Rule 18.8 Jury Sequestration

When someone faces the death penalty, the jury must stay together, isolated from outside contact, for the whole trial. This means jurors cannot go home at night. They stay in a hotel or similar location until the trial ends, so no one can influence them or expose them to outside information about the case.

For all other criminal cases, keeping the jury sequestered is not automatic. Either the defense lawyer or the prosecutor can ask for it, but they must make this request at least 48 hours before the trial starts. The judge then decides whether to grant or deny this request.

Even if no one asks ahead of time, the judge still has the power to sequester the jury at any point during the trial. This can happen on the judge's own decision or if either side asks for it once the trial is already underway. This gives the court flexibility to protect the jury from outside influence if problems come up during the trial, even in cases where sequestration was not planned from the start.