Sanders Joint Jury Instructions 11-11-2022
Sanders Joint Jury Instructions 11-11-2022
Sanders Joint Jury Instructions 11-11-2022
I HEREBY CERTIFY: That on this same date we have electronically filed the
foregoing with the Clerk of the Court, using the CM/ECF system which will send
notification of this filing to all counsel for the parties in this case.
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I – BEFORE TRIAL
you have heard some details during jury selection. Before the trial begins,
however, there are certain instructions you should have in order to understand what
you will hear and see and how you should conduct yourself during the trial.
The parties who bring a lawsuit are called plaintiffs. In this action, the
defendants in the form of a hostile work environment and retaliation under Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1974 and Section 296 of the Human Rights Law and
The defendants are Madison Square Garden, Isaiah Thomas, and James
Dolan. The party against whom the suit is brought is called defendant. In this
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action the defendants are Madison Square Garden, Isaiah Thomas, and James
Dolan.
At the end of the trial, you must make your decision based on what you
recall of the evidence. You will not have a written transcript to consult. You must
First, the plaintiff's attorney may make an opening statement. Next, the
not evidence but is simply a summary of what the attorney expects the evidence to
be.
The plaintiff will then present evidence and counsel for the defendant[s] may
cross-examine. Then, following the plaintiff’s case, the defendants may present
make their closing arguments to summarize and interpret the evidence for you. As
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with opening statements, closing arguments are not evidence. The court will
instruct you further on the law. After that you will retire to deliberate on your
verdict.
Introduction
It is your duty to determine the facts in this case from the evidence produced
in court. It also is your duty to accept the law from the court, regardless of what
you personally believe the law is or ought to be. You are to apply the law to the
their relative importance. The attorneys may properly discuss any specific
instructions they think are particularly significant. You should consider the
instructions as a whole and should not place undue emphasis on any particular
accusation against the defendant which informs the defendant of the charge. You
are not to consider the filing of the information complaint or its contents as proof
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The evidence you are to consider consists of the testimony of the witnesses
and the exhibits admitted into evidence. It has been my duty to rule on the
admissibility of evidence. You must not concern yourselves with the reasons for
these rulings. You will disregard any evidence which either was not admitted or
consider all of the evidence introduced by all parties bearing on the question.
Every party is entitled to the benefit of the evidence whether produced by that
You are the sole judges of the credibility of the witnesses and of what
witness, you may take into account the opportunity and ability of the witness to
observe, the witness’s memory and manner while testifying, any interest, bias, or
prejudice the witness may have, the reasonableness of the testimony of the witness
considered in light of all the evidence, and any other factors that bear on
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When I have completed these opening instructions to you, the attorneys will
make opening statements to you in which each will outline for you what they
expect to prove. The purpose of such opening statements is to tell you about each
party's claims so that you will have a better understanding of the evidence as it is
introduced. What is said in such opening statements is not evidence. The evidence
upon which you will base your decision will come from the testimony of witnesses
Plaintiffs will make their opening statement first and will be followed by the
support of their claim. Normally, plaintiffs must produce all their witnesses and
complete their entire case before the defendant introduces any evidence, although
defendant may present witnesses and exhibits. If they do so, plaintiffs may be
evidence. Each witness is first examined by the party who calls that witness to
testify, and then the opposing party is permitted to question the witness.
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JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 7 - Objections, Motions, Exceptions
this case. Arguments in connection with such objections or motions are sometimes
made out of the presence of the jury. Any ruling upon such objections or motions
will be based solely upon the law and therefore you must not conclude from any
such ruling or from anything I say during the course of the trial that I favor any
party to this lawsuit. After such a ruling, you may hear one of the attorneys taking
what we call an exception to it. Exceptions have nothing to do with your role in
this case and I mention the procedure to you so that you will not be confused if you
your hearing, either by having a bench conference here while you are present in the
courtroom, or by calling a recess. Please understand that while you are waiting, we
are working. The purpose of these conferences is to decide how certain evidence is
to be treated under the rules of evidence which govern the trial, and to avoid
confusion and error. We will, of course, do what we can to keep the number and
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JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 9 - Summations
Upon completion of the introduction of evidence, the attorneys will again
speak to you in a closing statement or summation. In summing up, the lawyers will
point out what they believe the evidence has shown, what inferences or
conclusions they believe you should draw from the evidence and what conclusions
they believe you should reach as your verdict. What is said by the attorneys in
summation, like what is said by them in their opening statements, or in the making
of objections or motions during the trial, is not evidence. Summations are intended
After the summations, I will instruct you on the rules of law applicable to
the case and you will then retire for your deliberations. Your function as jurors is
to decide what has or has not been proved and apply the rules of law that I give
you to the facts as you find them to be. The decision you reach will be your
verdict. Your decision will be based on the testimony that you hear and the exhibits
that will be received in evidence during the trial. You are the sole and exclusive
judges of the facts and nothing I say or do should be taken by you as any indication
preside impartially and not express any opinion concerning the facts. Any opinions
of mine on the facts would, in any event, be totally irrelevant because the facts are
for you to decide. On the other hand, and with equal emphasis, I instruct you that
in accordance with the oath you took as jurors you are required to accept the rules
of law that I give you whether you agree with them or not. You are not to ask
anyone else about the law. You should not consider or accept any advice about the
As the sole judges of the facts, you must decide which of the witnesses you
believe, what portion of their testimony you accept and what weight you give to it.
At times during the trial, I may sustain objections to questions and you may hear
no answer, or, where an answer has been made, I may instruct that it be stricken or
removed from the record and that you disregard it and dismiss it from your minds.
You may not draw any inference or conclusion from an unanswered question, nor
may you consider testimony which has been stricken or removed from the record
in reaching your decision. The law requires that your decision be made solely upon
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the evidence before you. Such items as I exclude from your consideration will be
The law does not, however, require you to accept all of the evidence I shall
admit. In deciding what evidence you will accept, you must make your own
evaluation of the testimony given by each of the witnesses, and decide how much
weight you choose to give to that testimony. The testimony of a witness may not
because the witness did not accurately see or hear what he or she is testifying
about, because the witness' recollection is faulty, or because the witness has not
with you to this courtroom all of the experience and background of your lives. In
your everyday affairs you decide for yourselves the reliability or unreliability of
things people tell you. The same tests that you use in your everyday dealings are
the tests which you apply in your deliberations. The interest or lack of interest of
any witness in the outcome of this case, the bias or prejudice of a witness, if there
be any, the appearance, the manner in which the witness gives testimony on the
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stand, the opportunity that the witness had to observe the facts about which he or
considered in the light of all of the other evidence in the case, are all items to be
considered by you in deciding how much weight, if any, you will give to that
witness' testimony.
consider whether the apparent discrepancy can be reconciled by fitting the two
stories together. If, however, that is not possible, you will then have to decide
The purpose of the rules I have outlined for you is to make sure that a just
result is reached when you decide the case. For the same purpose, you should keep
in mind several rules governing your own conduct during any recess.
your presence, and if anyone does so despite you telling the person not to, report
that to me as soon as you are able. You should not, however, discuss with your
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fellow jurors either that fact or any other fact you feel necessary to bring to my
attention.
comes in contact, please do not, during the time you serve on this jury, talk,
whether in or out of the courtroom, with any of the parties or their attorneys or any
witness. By this I mean not only do not talk about the case, but do not talk to them
at all, even to pass the time of day. In no other way can all parties be assured of the
legal principles I have discussed with you will, I believe, make it easier for you to
understand the trial as it goes on and to reach a just result at its conclusion. You
should not take anything I may have said during the trial as indicating what I think
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II – AFTER TRIAL IN CHIEF
instructed on the law applicable to the case and after which you will retire for your
final deliberations. You have now heard all the evidence introduced by the parties
and through arguments of their attorneys you have learned the conclusions which
each party believes should be drawn from the evidence presented to you.
principles so that you could have them in mind as the trial progressed. Briefly, they
were that you are bound to accept the law as I give it to you, whether or not you
agree with it. You are not to ask anyone else about the law. You should not
consider or accept any advice about the law from anyone else but me.
Furthermore, you must not conclude from my rulings or anything I have said
during the trial that I favor any party to this lawsuit. Moreover, you may not draw
any inference from an unanswered question nor consider testimony which has been
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Finally, in deciding how much weight you choose to give to the testimony of
any particular witness, there is no magical formula which can be used. The tests
made to you by others are the tests you will apply in your deliberations. The items
to be taken into consideration in determining the weight you will give to the
testimony of a witness include the interest or lack of interest of the witness in the
outcome of the case, the bias or prejudice of the witness, if there be any, the age,
the appearance, the manner of the witness as the witness testified, the opportunity
that the witness had to observe the facts about which he or she testified, the
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3. The harassment was both objectively and subjectively offensive, such
environment.
unwanted.
among other things, the frequency of the conduct, its severity, whether it was
mathematically precise test for determining whether words and gestures meet the
standard. Instead, you must consider the evidence as a whole and the totality of the
circumstances, such as the nature of the conduct and the context in which it
occurred.
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Discriminatory intimidation, ridicule and insult can be sufficiently severe or
overtly sexual. But conduct that results from genuine but innocuous differences in
the way men and women routinely interact with members of the same sex and of
the opposite sex is not illegal. Offhand comments, rudeness, occasional teasing,
and isolated incidents are not alone sufficient. This is not a general civility code for
the workplace.
If plaintiff satisfies for you all of the requirements I have listed, then you
following:
If you find that defendants have proven both of these by a preponderance of the
evidence, your verdict must be for defendants on this claim. Otherwise, your
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JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 19(B) - Hostile Work Environment Harassment -
Essential Factual Elements—Employer or Entity Defendant
Plaintiff claims that that she was subjected to harassment based on her sex in
2. The plaintiff was subjected to unwanted harassing conduct because she was
a woman;
corrective action;
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JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 20 - Hostile Work Environment - Elements
The Plaintiff has alleged that she was subjected to a hostile work
environment based upon sex in violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964. To prove her claim of hostile work environment, the Plaintiff must prove
3. The conduct complained of was sexual [or other protected status] in nature
5. The Defendants knew or should have known about the conduct to which
JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 21 - The New York State Human Rights Law
The New York State Human Rights Law (Executive Law § 296) defines and
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statute forbids many of the same practices that are forbidden by Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 USC § 200e, et seq. (Title VII). Further, the standards
for recovering under the New York State Human Rights Law are generally the
individual.
JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 22- New York State Human Rights Law, Hostile
Work Environment
Under the New York State Human Rights Law, a hostile environment exists
insult that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim's
The test for a hostile environment has both objective and subjective
and severity of the conduct, whether the conduct was threatening or humiliating as
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opposed to being merely offensive and whether it unreasonably interfered with the
episodes will not suffice,, if the alleged conduct is extraordinarily severe, a single
incident may create a hostile environment, San Juan v Leach, supra. It is not
necessary for the plaintiff to demonstrate that the conduct was psychologically
relevant.
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Whether the conduct was physically threatening or humiliating or a mere
offensive utterance.
of job responsibility.
objective standard, and you must look at the evidence from the perspective of a
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"Unwelcome conduct" means conduct that was not solicited or encouraged
Plaintiff accuses defendants of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 by retaliating against her for engaging in protected activities, namely, for
evidence that:
3. There is a causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse
action.
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JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 29 - Retaliation Claim – New York State Human
Rights Law
The New York State Human Rights Law prohibits employers from
interpret the New York State Human Rights Law also has an anti-retaliation
provision containing two clauses: (1) the “opposition clause,” which makes it
employee has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice “by
this subchapter,” and (2) the “participation clause,” which makes it unlawful for an
this subchapter.”
employee may be protected under the opposition clause when the employee
used for claims arising under the New York State Human Rights Law. Under those
retaliatory motive for the adverse employment decision. To make out a prima facie
employment action.
Once a prima facie case is made, the burden shifts to the employer to articulate a
If defendant meets this burden, plaintiff must then show that the reasons
advanced were pretextual, i.e., not the true reason for the employer’s actions.
employee.
claim and making statements concerning the alleged sexual harassment constitute
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“opposition” to practices forbidden by the Human Rights Law and are protected
discrimination.
In these instructions you are told that your verdict depends on whether you
find certain facts have been proved by the greater weight of the evidence. To find
that an element has been proved by the greater weight of the evidence, you must
find that it is more likely true than not true. It is determined by considering all of
the evidence and deciding which evidence is more believable. If, on any issue in
the case, you cannot decide whether a fact is more likely true than not true, you
greater number of witnesses or exhibits a party has presented. You may have heard
of the term "proof beyond a reasonable doubt." That is a stricter standard which
applies in criminal cases. It does not apply in civil cases such as this. You should,
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JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 31 - General: Nature of Case; Burden of Proof;
Ladies and Gentlemen: I will take a few moments now to give you some
initial instructions about this case and about your duties as jurors. At the end of the
trial, I will give you further instructions. I may also give you instructions during
the trial. Unless I specifically tell you otherwise, all such instructions - both those I
give you now and those I give you later – are equally binding on you and must be
followed.
This is a civil case brought by the plaintiff against the defendants. The
plaintiff alleges that the defendants discriminated against her by creating a hostile
work environment based upon her sex and by retaliating against her for opposing
It will be your duty to decide from the evidence whether the plaintiff is
entitled to a verdict against the defendants. From the evidence you will decide
what the facts are. You are entitled to consider that evidence in the light of your
own observations and experiences in the affairs of life. You will then apply those
facts to the law which I give you in these and in my other instructions, and in that
way reach your verdict. You are the sole judges of the facts; but you must follow
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the law as stated in my instructions, whether you agree with it or not. In deciding
what the facts are, you may have to decide what testimony you believe and what
testimony you do not believe. You may believe all of what a witness says, or only
their opportunity to have seen or heard the things they testify about, their
memories, any motives they may have for testifying a certain way, their manner
while testifying, whether they said something different at an earlier time, the
general reasonableness of their testimony and the extent to which their testimony is
you a just verdict, unaffected by anything except the evidence, your common
Different Issues
To say that a party has the burden of proof on a particular issue means that,
considering all the evidence in the case, the party's claim on that issue must be
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means the testimony or exhibits that you find worthy of belief. Preponderance
means the greater part of the evidence. That does not mean the greater number of
evidence, its weight, and the effect that it has on your minds. For a party to prevail
on an issue on which he or she has the burden of proof, the evidence that supports
his or her claim on that issue must appeal to you as more nearly representing what
happened than the evidence opposed to it. If it does not or if it weighs so evenly
that you are unable to say that there is preponderance on either side, you must
decide the question against the party who has the burden of proof and in favor of
In this case the plaintiffs claim that the defendant’s negligence caused the
occurrence that resulted in the death of one hundred and forty-six lives and caused
injuries and damages to seventy survivors. The plaintiffs have the burden of
proving that the defendant was negligent, and that defendant's negligence was a
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Facts must be proved by evidence. Evidence includes the testimony of a
witness concerning what the witness saw, heard or did. Evidence also includes
give circumstantial evidence less weight, more weight, or the same weight as direct
evidence.
believed by you, proves a fact. For example, let us suppose that a fact in dispute is
whether I knocked over this water glass near the witness chair. If someone testifies
that he saw me knock over the glass, that is direct evidence that I knocked over the
glass.
fact in dispute but which permits a reasonable inference or conclusion that the fact
exists. For example, a witness testifies that he saw this water glass on the bench.
The witness states that, while he was looking the other way, he heard the breaking
of glass, looked up, and saw me wiping water from my clothes and from the papers
on the bench. This testimony is not direct evidence that I knocked over the glass; it
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is circumstantial evidence from which you could reasonably infer that I knocked
Those facts which form the basis of an inference must be proved and the
inference to be drawn must be one that may be reasonably drawn. In the example,
even though the witness did not see me knock over the glass, if you believe his or
her testimony, you could conclude that I did. Therefore, the circumstantial
evidence, if accepted by you, allows you to conclude that the fact in dispute has
been proved.
In reaching your conclusion you may not guess or speculate. Suppose, for
example, the witness testifies that the water glass was located equally distant from
the court clerk and me. The witness states that he heard the breaking of glass and
looked up to see both the court clerk and me brushing water from our clothes. If
you believe that testimony, you still could not decide on that evidence alone who
knocked over the water glass. Where these are the only proved facts, it would be
only a guess as to who did it. But, if the witness also testifies that he heard the
court clerk say “I am sorry,” this additional evidence would allow you to decide
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In deciding what the facts are, you may have to decide what testimony you
believe and what testimony you do not believe. You may believe all of what a
witness said, or only part of it, or none of it. In deciding what testimony to believe,
you may consider a witness' intelligence, the opportunity a witness had to see or
hear the things testified about, a witness' memory, any motives a witness may have
for testifying a certain way, the manner of a witness while testifying, whether a
the testimony, and the extent to which the testimony is consistent with any
sometimes hear or see things differently and sometimes forget things. You need to
If, during your deliberations, your recollection of any part of the testimony
should fail, or you have any question about my instructions to you on the law, you
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have the right to return to the courtroom for the purpose of having such testimony
Although as jurors you are encouraged to use all of your life experiences in
analyzing testimony and reaching a fair verdict, you may not communicate any
personal professional expertise you might have or other facts not in evidence to the
other jurors during deliberations. You must base your discussions and decisions
solely on the evidence presented to you during the trial and that evidence alone.
You may not consider or speculate on matters not in evidence or matters outside
the case.
The fact that I instruct you on damages does not represent any view by me
that you should or should not find defendants liable. Plaintiff seeks to recover
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You must not consider any lost wages or fringe benefits. Federal law
requires that I as the judge determine the amount of any lost wages and fringe
benefits that plaintiff shall recover if you find defendants liable. Distress arising
from this lawsuit, or legal expenses incurred in this lawsuit must also not be
included in these damages. You must determine instead what other loss, if any,
plaintiff has suffered or will suffer in the future caused by any sex discrimination
that you find defendants has committed under the instructions I have given you.
We call these compensatory damages. You may award compensatory damages for
life, and other noneconomic losses if you determine that plaintiff has proven by a
preponderance of the evidence that she has experienced any of these consequences
noneconomic losses is available and there is no standard I can give you for fixing
not grounds for denying a recovery on this element of damages. You must,
therefore, make the best and most reasonable estimate you can, not from a personal
point of view, but from a fair and impartial point of view, of the amount of
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emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life
and other noneconomic losses you find that plaintiff has undergone and can
you must place a money value on this, attempting to come to a conclusion that will
be fair and just to both of the parties. This will be difficult for you to measure in
terms of dollars and cents, but there is no other rule I can give you for assessing
Remedies
The New York State Human Rights Law, Executive Law § 297(9),
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If you find that plaintiff should recover compensatory damages for the bad
faith actions of the insurance company, and you find that the conduct of the
insurance company was in reckless disregard for the interests of the plaintiff, or
to the consequences.
Punitive damages are awarded for the limited purposes of punishment and
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JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 40 – Damages - Punitive
you may, but you are not required to, award plaintiff punitive damages if you find
that the acts of the defendants that caused the injury complained of were wanton
the plaintiff but to punish the defendant for wanton and reckless, malicious acts
and thereby to discourage the defendant and other companies from acting in a
consider the nature and reprehensibility of what defendants did. That would
include the character of the wrongdoing, such as: whether defendants’ conduct
the acts were done with an improper motive or vindictiveness, whether the act or
conduct went on, defendants’ awareness of what harm the conduct caused or was
other than plaintiff in determining the extent to which defendants conduct was
reprehensible, you may not add a specific amount to your punitive damages award
to punish defendants for the harm defendants caused to others. The amount of
punitive damages that you award must be both reasonable and proportionate to the
actual and potential harm suffered by plaintiff, and to the compensatory damages
factor in deciding the amount of punitive damages that would be reasonable and
You may also consider the defendants’ financial condition and the impact
In reporting your verdict, you will state the amount awarded by you as
punitive damages.
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Upon retiring to the jury room for your deliberation of this case, your first
duty is to select a foreperson to act as chairperson. It is his or her duty to see that
discussion is carried on in a sensible and orderly fashion, that the issues submitted
for your decision are fully and fairly discussed, and that every juror has a chance to
be heard and to participate in the deliberations upon each question before the jury.
You will be furnished with all of the exhibits admitted in evidence, these
instructions, and a single verdict form. You must fill out the verdict form and
answer all questions that apply to your deliberations, according to the decision you
reach. If you find the defendants liable, you must then award compensatory, and, if
applicable, punitive damages. All members of the jury must agree for you to
return a verdict. When all of you have so agreed, fill in the proper form of verdict
to express your decision. The foreperson will sign it and notify us, and we will
The amount of any punitive damages must be based on reason and justice,
taking into account all the circumstances, including the nature of the wrong and
injury.
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JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 42 – Conclusion
I have now outlined for you the rules of law that apply to this case and the
processes by which you weigh the evidence and decide the facts. In a few minutes
you will retire to the jury room for your deliberations. Traditionally, Juror No. 1
acts as foreperson. Your first order of business when you are in the jury room will
orderly fashion, you must have a foreperson, but of course, his or her vote is
entitled to no greater weight than that of any other juror. Your function—to reach a
fair decision from the law and the evidence—is an important one.
When you are in the jury room, listen to each other, and discuss the evidence
and issues in the case among yourselves. It is the duty of each of you, as jurors, to
consult with one another, and to deliberate with a view of reaching agreement on a
verdict, if you can do so without violating your individual judgment and your
conscience. While you should not surrender conscientious convictions of what the
truth is and of the weight and effect of the evidence and while each of you must
decide the case for yourself and not merely consent to the decision of your fellow
jurors, you should examine the issues and the evidence before you with candor and
frankness, and with proper respect and regard for the opinions of each other.
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Remember in your deliberations that the dispute between the parties is, for
them, a very important matter. They and the court rely upon you to give full and
conscientious deliberation and consideration to the issues and evidence before you.
By so doing, you carry out to the fullest your oaths as jurors to truly try the issues
Members of the jury, your verdict completes your service in this case. On
behalf of the judicial system of this state, I thank you for that service. Before you
leave the courtroom, however, I want to inform you that you do not have to answer
questions about the case asked by anyone other than me. The public interest
requires that jurors have the utmost freedom of debate in the jury room, and that
each of you be free to express your views without fear of what others may think.
Although you are not required to maintain secrecy about what occurred in the jury
room, you should keep in mind your own best interests as jurors before discussing
the case with anyone or answering any questions about it. In sum, you are free to
discuss the case with anyone and you are also free to decline to discuss the case.
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