M Civ JI 97.19 Jurors Not to Discuss Case

(1) Because the law requires that cases be decided only on the evidence presented during the trial and only by the deliberating jurors, you must keep an open mind and not make a decision about anything in the case until after you have (a) heard all of the evidence, (b) heard the closing arguments of counsel, (c) received all of my instructions on the law and the verdict form, and (d) any alternate jurors have been excused. At that time, you will be sent to the jury room to decide the case. Sympathy must not influence your decision. Nor should your decision be influenced by prejudice regarding disability, gender or gender identity, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, socioeconomic status, or any other factor irrelevant to the rights of the parties.

(2) [ Alternative A ] (Before you are sent to the jury room to decide the case, you may discuss the case among yourselves during recesses in the trial, but there are strict rules that must be followed:

First, you may only discuss the case when (a) all of you are together, (b) you are all in the jury room, and (c) no one else is present in the jury room. You must not discuss the case under any other circumstances. The reason you may not discuss the case with other jurors while some of you are not present is that all of you are entitled to participate in all of the discussions about the case.

Second, as I stated before, you must keep an open mind until I send you to the jury room to decide the case. Your discussions before then are only tentative.

Third, you do not have to discuss the case during the trial. But if you choose to do so, you must follow the rules I have given you.)

[ Alternative B ] (Before you are sent to the jury room to decide the case, you are not to discuss the case even with the other members of the jury. This is to ensure that all of you are able to participate in all of the discussions about the case, and so that you do not begin to express opinions about the case until it has been submitted to you for deliberation.)

Comment

The November 2021 amendment added gender identity to the list of things that should not influence the jury’s decision.

Note on Use

The court will choose between Alternative A or B in paragraph 2 based on the court’s decision whether to permit the jurors to discuss the evidence among themselves during trial recesses.

History

M Civ JI 97.19 was added March 2005. Amended November 2015, October 2019. Amended November 2021.