The Trials of Jury Trials: Questions from the Jury
Presiding over a jury trial probably is the most demanding task asked of a judge. Jury trials are imbued with a dynamic volatility that spins off numerous trial management challenges. Jury questions are one such challenge. Presented with a jury question, a trial judge, with the assistance of counsel, must decipher the question, craft a full and proper response, assess the impact of the response on overall trial fairness, and do all of this under the pressure of a relentless time clock. Introducing an Alternative Theory of Criminal Liability within the Answer to a Jury Question Where an alternative theory of criminal liability, which had not been a live issue at trial, is introduced by the trial judge in his answer to a question from the jury, the trial judge is obliged, at a minimum, to canvass and implement reasonable steps to mitigate any trial prejudice caused to the accused by the injection of a new basis of liability so late in the proceedings. The failure to do s...