STOCK PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS - CIVIL

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURY

MEMBERS OF THE JURY:

Now that you have been sworn, I want to impress on you the seriousness of being a juror. I will give you some preliminary instructions to guide you in your participation in the trial. First, I will explain the nature of the case. Then, I will explain what your duties are as jurors and how the trial will proceed. I will give you more detailed instructions at the conclusion of the evidence on the required proof and how you should proceed to reach a verdict.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 1

The parties who are bringing a law suit are called "plaintiffs," while the parties being sued are called "defendants." To help you understand what you will see and hear, I will now explain the background of the case.

[Provide brief background of the case.]

The defendant denies liability for the plaintiff's injuries.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 2

This lawsuit was brought by plaintiff [insert plaintiff(s) name.]

The defendant(s) being sued in this case is [insert defendant's name.]

[If there are two or more defendants, also insert the following:

Although there are [insert number of defendants] defendants, that does not mean that they are equally liable or that any of them are liable. Each defendant is entitled to a fair consideration of its defense against the plaintiff's claims. If you conclude that one defendant is liable, that does not necessarily mean that the other defendants are also liable.]

I will now describe the basic elements the plaintiff must prove against [the defendant /each of the defendants]. These instructions are preliminary to provide you guidance as the evidence is presented. As I indicated, I will give additional and more detailed instructions at the conclusion of evidence.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 2-A

To find [insert defendant(s) name] is liable for [insert cause of action], you must be convinced that the plaintiff has proved each of the following elements by a preponderance of the evidence:

First:	[state first element];

Second:	[state second element].

Note:	Repeat these steps until all of the elements have been stated. If there is more than one cause of action, repeat this instruction for each remaining cause of action.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 3

It is my role to supervise the trial and to decide all legal questions, such as deciding objections to evidence and deciding the meaning of the law. I will also instruct you on the law that you must apply. The order in which I give the instructions has no significance. You must consider the instructions in their entirety, giving them all equal weight. I do not intend to emphasize any particular instruction, and neither should you.

The instructions that I give you are the law, and your oath requires you to follow my instructions even if you disagree with them.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 4

It is the lawyers' role to present evidence, generally by calling and questioning witnesses and presenting exhibits. Each lawyer will also try to persuade you to decide the case in favor of his or her client.

Things that you see on television and in the movies may not accurately reflect the way real trials should be conducted. Real trials should be conducted with professionalism, courtesy and civility.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 5

It will be your duty to find from the evidence what the facts are. The facts generally relate to who, what, when, where, why, and how. The facts must be supported by the evidence. Neither the lawyers nor I actually decide the facts. You, and you alone, are the judges of the facts. You will then have to apply to those facts the law as the court will give it to you. You must follow that law whether you agree with it or not.

Nothing the court may say or do during the course of the trial is intended to indicate nor should be taken by you as indicating what your verdict should be.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 6

The evidence from which you will find the facts will consist of the testimony of witnesses, documents and other things received into the record as exhibits, and any facts the lawyers agree or stipulate to or that the court may instruct you to find.

Certain things are not evidence and must not be considered by you. I will list them for you now:

1.	Statements, arguments and questions by lawyers are not evidence.

2.	Objections to questions are not evidence. Lawyers have an obligation to their clients to make an objection when they believe evidence being offered is improper under the rules of evidence. You should not be influenced by the objection or by the court's ruling on it. If the objection is sustained, ignore the question. If it is overruled, treat the answer like any other. If you are instructed that some item of evidence is received for a limited purpose only, you must follow that instruction.

3. Testimony that the court has excluded or told you to disregard is not evidence and must not be considered.

4. Anything you may have seen or heard outside the courtroom is not evidence and must be disregarded. You are to decide the case solely on the evidence presented here in the courtroom.

There are two kinds of evidence: direct and circumstantial. Direct evidence is direct proof of a fact, such as testimony of an eyewitness. Circumstantial evidence is proof of facts from which you may infer or conclude that other facts exist. I will give you further instructions on these as well as other matters at the end of the case, but keep in mind that you may consider both kinds of evidence.

It will be up to you to decide which witnesses to believe, which witnesses not to believe, and how much of any witness's testimony to accept or reject. I will give you some guidelines for determining the credibility of witnesses at the end of the case.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 7

You must come to the case without bias. You must not decide this case for or against anyone because you feel sorry for anyone or angry at anyone. You must decide this case based on the facts and the law, without regard to sympathy, passion, or prejudice.

[If the plaintiff is a natural person and the defendant is a business entity also insert the following:

The fact that the plaintiff is a natural persons and the defendant is a [corporation/company/partnership] should not play any part in your deliberations. You must decide this case as if it were between individuals.]

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 8

Now, a few words about your conduct as jurors.

First, I instruct you that, until you retire to the jury room at the end of the case to deliberate on your verdict, you are not to discuss the case with anyone or permit anyone to discuss it with you. This includes your family, other jurors, and anyone involved in the trial. Do not speak at all with any of the parties, the witnesses, or the lawyers. If anyone attempts in any way to talk to you about this trial during a recess, it is your obligation to tell me immediately.

Second, do not read or listen to anything touching on this case in any way. Do not watch or listen to any news reports concerning this trial on television or on radio and do not read any news accounts of this trial in a newspaper or on the internet. If anyone should try to talk to you about it, bring it to the court's attention promptly.

Do not try to do any research or make any investigation about the case or about the parties on your own or as a group. Do not use dictionaries, the internet, or other reference materials to understand more about the case or the parties. Do not contact anyone to assist you.

Finally, keep an open mind throughout the trial. Evidence can only be presented one piece at a time. Do not form or express an opinion about this case while the trial is going on. You must not decide on a verdict until after you have heard all of the evidence and have discussed it thoroughly with your fellow jurors in your deliberations.

After the trial is over and I have released you from the jury, you may then discuss the case with anyone, but you are not required to do so.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 9

Because of the prevalence of computers and electronic communication technology, I provide a further caution to you. Serious problems have been caused around the country by jurors using computer and electronic communication technology. It's natural that we want to investigate a case, or to share with others our thoughts about the trial, and it's easy to do so with the internet and instant communication devices or services, such as Blackberries, iPhones, Facebook, Twitter, and so on.

Please understand that the rules of evidence and procedure have developed over hundreds of years in order to ensure the fair resolution of disputes. The fairness of the entire system depends entirely on you, the jurors, reaching your decisions based on evidence presented to you in court, and not on other sources of information. You violate your oath as jurors if you conduct your own investigations or communicate about this trial with others.

Jurors have caused serious consequences for themselves and the courts by "Googling" the parties, issues, or counsel; "Twittering" with friends about the trial; using Blackberries or iPhones to gather or send information on cases; posting trial updates on Facebook pages; using Wikipedia or other internet information sources, and so on. Even using something as seemingly innocent as "Google Maps" can result in a mistrial.

Post-trial investigations are common and can disclose these improper activities. If they are discovered, they will be brought to my attention and the entire case might have to be retried, at substantial cost.

Violations may also result in substantial penalties for the juror.

So I warn you again—do not use your cellphone or computer to investigate or discuss anything connected with this trial until it is completely finished. Do no internet research of any kind, and advise me if you learn of any juror who has done so.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 10

If you would like to take notes during the trial, you may, but you are not required to take notes. If you decide to take notes, be careful not to get so involved in note taking that you become distracted, and remember your notes will not necessarily reflect exactly what was said. Your notes should be used only as memory aids. Therefore, you should not give your notes precedence over your independent recollection of the evidence. You should also not be unduly influenced by the notes of other jurors. If you do take notes, you must leave them in the jury room at night and do not discuss the content of your notes until you begin deliberations.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 11

The court reporter is making stenographic notes of everything that is said. The purpose is to have an accurate record of the proceeding and to assist any appeals. A typewritten copy of the testimony, however, will not be available for your use during deliberations.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 12

At the end of trial, you must make your decision based on what you recall of the evidence. You will not have a transcript of the trial. I urge you to pay close attention to the testimony as it is given.

PRELIMINARY	INSTRUCTION NO. 13

During the trial it may be necessary for me to talk with the lawyers out of 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, and to avoid confusion and error. We will, of course, do what we can to keep the number and length of these conferences to a minimum.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 14

The trial will generally proceed as follows:

1. Opening Statements. The lawyers will make opening statements, outlining what the case is about and what they think the evidence will show. Opening statements are neither evidence nor arguments.

2. Presentation of Evidence. The plaintiff(s) will offer evidence first, and the defendant(s) may cross-examine their witnesses. Following the plaintiff(s)' case, the defendant(s) will present their respective evidence, and the plaintiff(s) may cross-examine the defendants' witnesses. The parties may later offer more evidence (called rebuttal evidence) after hearing the witnesses and seeing the exhibits.

3. Instructions on the Law. Throughout the trial and after the evidence has been fully presented, I will instruct you on the law that you must apply. You must obey these instructions. You are not allowed to go against the law in reaching a verdict.

4. Closing Arguments. After all the evidence is in, the lawyers will summarize and argue the case. They will share with you their views of the evidence, how it relates to the law and how they think you should decide the case.

5. Jury Deliberations. The final step is for you to go to the jury room and discuss the case among yourselves until you reach a verdict. Your verdict must be unanimous.

The trial will now begin.