Miscellaneous

Noted

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Jury trial innovations are like lottery winnings. Everybody (almost) wants them, but what do we do with them once we win? Put it in the bank? Retire early? See the world? Pay off the bills?

Good question! So glad we asked. In Maryland, not knowing what to do with juror notes to the judge has led to a possible retrial -- for the third time.

The jury hung in the first trial. Hoping to avoid another such hanging, the judge in the case allowed written questions -- to him, not to witnesses. But those notes disappeared. They are nowhere to be found in the transcript.

We doubt it was anything sinister. It's just a case of wondering what to do with all those notes. Should notes go into the transcript? Must notes jurors take for themselves be destroyed after the trial? How are juror questions to witnesses handled procedurally? When innovations become reality, it's important to connect them to some type of procedure and/or rule so that everybody knows what's what. That seems obvious, but it's easy to get swept away by the excitement of a novel idea.

The esteemed Judge Dennis Sweeney, himself a connoisseur of jury innovations, has been tasked with sorting out the matter. It will be interesting to see what he concludes.

See Third Trial Possible in Killings of 3 Children, Melissa Harris, Baltimore Sun (January 31, 2009).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on February 02, 2009 (boomark / email).