Process – Upon reporting to the address indicated on the summons, jurors can expect the following activities:
- Check-in and verification of identity;
- Orientation and introduction to Court procedures; and
- Voir dire, or individual questioning, to determine your ability to serve on a particular case.
If you are selected, the assigned judge will provide further instruction. If not selected, you may need to remain in the Assembly Room for possible voir dire on another case. Once all cases scheduled have been resolved, you have fulfilled your service and will be dismissed. Please understand there are often delays in the selection of jurors, and we ask for your patience. It is suggested jurors bring reading material to pass the time during periods of inactivity. Also, jurors may bring cellular phones, laptop computers, and other electronic media to the Jury Assembly Room. The use of these devices is prohibited in courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms.
Jury Deliberations – After hearing the final arguments and receiving the judge’s instructions, the jury retires to the jury room to begin deliberating. Jury deliberation is the process by which a jury in a trial discusses in private the evidence they have heard and decides how that applies to the law the judge gave in his instructions.
Jury Reaches a Verdict – Jury deliberations are complete when the jurors have applied the factual evidence of the case to the law as instructed and come to a decision on the outcome, or verdict, of the case. Jurors deliberate in private to arrive at a verdict, which is then reported to the court by the jury foreman or forewoman.
The roles of a Juror and a Judge - In a trial with a Judge and jury, each have very different parts to play. The
jury listen to the evidence and decide who or what to believe. They decide what the facts of the case are. They are the only ones who can decide the outcome of the case. The
judge presides over the proceedings and sees that order is maintained, determines whether any evidence is illegal or improper. In jury trials, the judge gives the jury instructions about the law that applies to the case and the standards it must use in deciding the case before it begins its deliberations about the facts in the case.
