Free LRR-Stock Criminal Preliminary Jury Instructions - updated 1-17-08.pdf - Iowa

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, vs. , Defendant. ____________________ PRELIMINARY JURY INSTRUCTIONS - CRIMINAL CASE No.

Members of the Jury: In the next few moments I am going 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.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 1

This is a criminal case, brought against the defendant by the United States government. The charge[s] against the defendant is/are set forth in a document referred to as an Indictment. Assistant United States Attorney Indictment to the Jury. You are instructed that an Indictment is simply an accusation. It is not evidence of anything. The defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charge[s], and is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. will now read the

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 2 It will be your duty as jurors to decide from the evidence whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the crime[s] charged in the Indictment. 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 may use reason and common sense to draw deductions or conclusions from facts which have been established by the evidence. 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[s]. You are the sole judges of the facts; but you must follow the law as stated in my instructions, whether you agree with it or not. Do not allow sympathy or prejudice to influence you. The law demands of you a just verdict[s], unaffected by anything except the evidence, your common sense, and the law as I give it to you. You should not take anything I may say or do during the trial as indicating what I think of the evidence or what I think your verdict[s] should be. Finally, please remember that only this defendant, not anyone else, is on trial here, and that this defendant is on trial only for the crime[s] charged, not for anything else.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 3 I have mentioned the word "evidence." "Evidence" includes the testimony of witnesses, documents and other things received as exhibits and any facts that have been stipulated, that is, formally agreed to by the parties. Certain things are not evidence. The following are not evidence: 1. 2. Statements, arguments, questions and comments by lawyers representing the Objections by lawyers. Lawyers have a right to object when they believe parties in the case. something is improper. You should not be influenced by the objection. If I sustain an objection to a question, you must ignore the question and must not try to guess what the answer might have been. 3. 4. 5. Testimony I strike from the record, or tell you to disregard, is not evidence Anything you see or hear about this case outside the courtroom is not Anything that might have been said by jurors or the attorneys during the jury and must not be considered. evidence, unless I specifically tell you otherwise during the trial. selection process is not evidence. Furthermore, a particular item of evidence is sometimes received for a limited purpose only. That is, it can be used by you only for one particular purpose, and not for any other purpose. I will tell you when that occurs, and instruct you on the purposes for which the item can and cannot be used. (CONTINUED)

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 3 (Cont'd) Finally, some of you may have heard the terms "direct evidence" and "circumstantial evidence." You are instructed that you should not be concerned with those terms. The law makes no distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence. You should give all evidence the weight and value you believe it is entitled to receive.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 4 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 of any witness to believe, consider the witness's intelligence, the opportunity the witness had to have seen or heard the things testified about, the witness's memory, any motives that witness may have for testifying a certain way, the manner of the witness while testifying, whether that witness said something different at an earlier time, the general reasonableness of the testimony, and the extent to which the testimony is consistent with other evidence that you believe.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 5 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. Therefore you must pay close attention to the testimony as it is given. If you wish, you may take notes during the presentation of evidence to help you remember what witnesses said. If you do take notes, please keep them to yourself until you and your fellow jurors go to the jury room to decide the case. And do not let notetaking distract you so that you do not hear other answers by the witness. Before we begin the evidence, we will give each juror an envelope with a pad and pen in it. The envelopes are numbered according to your seat in the jury box. When you leave for breaks or at night please put your pad and pen in the envelope and leave the envelope on your chair. Your notes will be secured, and they will not be read by anyone.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 6 During the trial it may be necessary for me to talk with the lawyers out of the hearing of the jury, either by having a bench conference while the jury is present in the courtroom or by calling a recess. If the bench conference is held in the courtroom, we will switch on what we refer to as "white noise" so that the jurors cannot hear what is being said by the lawyers and me. While the bench conferences are being conducted feel free to stand and stretch and visit among yourselves about anything except the case.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 7 Finally, to insure fairness, you as jurors must obey the following rules: First, do not talk among yourselves about this case, or about anyone involved with it, until the end of the case when you go to the jury room to decide on your verdict[s]. Second, do not talk with anyone else about this case, or about anyone involved with it, until the trial has ended and you have been discharged as jurors. Third, when you are outside the courtroom do not let anyone tell you anything about the case, or about anyone involved with it, until the trial has ended and your verdict[s] has/have been accepted by me. If someone should try to talk with you about the case during the trial, please report it to me through the Court Security Officer. Fourth, during the trial you should not talk with or speak to any of the parties, lawyers or witnesses involved in this case--you should not even pass the time of day with any of them. It is important not only that you do justice in this case, but that you also give the appearance of doing justice. If a person from one side of the lawsuit sees you talking to a person from the other side--even if it is simply to pass the time of day--an unwarranted and unnecessary suspicion about your fairness might be aroused. If any lawyer, party or witness does not speak to you when you pass in the hall, ride the elevator or the like, it is because they are not supposed to talk or visit with you. Fifth, do not read any news stories or articles about the case, or about anyone involved with it, or listen to any radio or television reports about the case, or about anyone involved with it. In fact, until the trial is over I suggest that you avoid reading any newspapers or news journals at all, and avoid listening to any TV or radio newscasts at all. I do not know whether there might be any news reports of this case, but if there are you (CONTINUED)

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 7 (Cont'd) might inadvertently find yourself reading or listening to something before you could do anything about it. If you want, you can have your spouse or a friend clip out any stories and set them aside to give you after the trial is over. I can assure you, however, that by the time you have heard the evidence in this case you will know more about the matter than anyone will learn through the news media. Sixth, do not do any research or make any investigation about the case on your own. Do not consult any reference materials such as the Internet, books, magazines, dictionaries or encyclopedias. Do not contact anyone to ask them questions about issues that may arise in this case. Remember you are not permitted to talk to anyone (except your fellow jurors) about this case or anyone involved with it until the trial is ended and I have discharged you as jurors. Seventh, do not make up your mind during the trial about what the verdict[s] should be. Keep an open mind until after you have gone to the jury room to decide the case and you and your fellow jurors have discussed the evidence.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION NO. 8 The trial will proceed in the following manner: First, the government attorney will make an opening statement. Next, the defendant's attorney may, but does not have to, make an opening statement. An opening statement is not evidence, but is simply a summary of what the attorney expects the evidence to be. The government will then present its evidence and the defendant's attorney may cross-examine. Following the government's case, the defendant may, but does not have to, present evidence, testify or call other witnesses. If the defendant calls witnesses, the government attorney may cross-examine them. After presentation of evidence is completed, the court will instruct you further on the law. Then the attorneys will make their closing arguments to summarize and interpret the evidence for you. As with opening statements, closing arguments are not evidence. After that you will retire to deliberate on your verdict[s].

DATED this

day of

, 200__.

LINDA R. READE CHIEF JUDGE, U.S. DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA