Local Rule LOCAL CIVIL RULE 47: JURORS

LOCAL CIVIL RULE 47 - JURORS

(a) Juries. All juries for the District are drawn and convene as directed by the Court.

(b) Voir Dire Examination. All voir dire examinations of prospective jurors will be conducted by the Judge alone, unless an exception to this rule is made by the presiding Judge. Counsel may submit in advance, in writing, questions to be asked upon such examination and may supplement this by oral request at side bar when necessary.

(c) Argument of Law to Jury Prohibited. In the argument of any case to a jury, counsel shall not read to the jury from any legal textbook or reported case, instruct the jury on any matter of law, or argue law to the jury.

(d) Contacting Prospective Jurors and Jurors Before and During Trial.

(1) A lawyer shall not knowingly communicate, either directly or through another, with a juror or prospective juror unless authorized to do so by law or court order, upon good cause shown.1

(2) A lawyer may not, either personally or through another, send an access request to a juror or prospective juror through any electronic social media. An access request is a communication to a juror seeking access to a juror or prospective juror's social media for the purpose of obtaining information about a juror or potential juror which the juror or potential juror has not made public or that would be the type of ex parte communication prohibited by subsection (1) of this local rule.2

(3) Unless otherwise limited by law, court order, or subsections (1) and (2) of this local rule, a lawyer may review, in advance of or during a trial, a juror's or prospective juror's public Internet presence. "Internet presence" includes but is not limited to postings by the juror or prospective juror on electronic social media that are publicly available and that do not require an access request.3

(4) In the course of reviewing a juror's or potential juror's Internet presence, if a lawyer discovers evidence of juror or potential juror misconduct, the lawyer must disclose the misconduct or potential misconduct to the court as soon as possible.4

(e) Interviewing Jurors After Trial

(1) No party or their attorney shall, personally or through another person, contact, interview, examine, or question any juror or alternate, except on leave of court granted upon good cause shown. If a party believes in good faith that grounds for legal challenge to a verdict exist, he may move for an order permitting an interview of a juror or jurors to determine whether the verdict is subject to challenge.5

(2) No juror has any obligation to speak to any person about any case and may refuse all interviews or comments;

(3) No person may make repeated requests for interviews or questions after a juror has expressed the desire not to be interviewed;

(4) No juror or alternate who consents to be interviewed may disclose any information with respect to the following:

(A) The specific vote of any juror other than the juror being interviewed;

(B) The deliberations of the jury; or

(C) Evidence of improprieties in the jury's deliberation.