In chambers: jury instructions

📄 In chambers: jury instructions — Tuesday, December 3, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\3\IN-CHAMBERS-JURY-INSTRUCTIONS.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 24 of 57

◀ Jury admonition and adjournment Jury instruction argument ▶

Date: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 • Utterances: 5

Judge Fujisaki called counsel into chambers to distribute a draft special jury instruction he had written regarding OJ Simpson's examination by plaintiff's attorney Petrocelli. He gave counsel time to review it before returning to court, offering them the opportunity to make a record before he read it to the jury.

# 1 (REGINA D. CHAVEZ, OFFICIAL REPORTER)

# 2 (The following proceedings were held in the Court's chambers, outside the presence of the jury.)

# 3 THE COURT:

Okay. Now that I have you in chambers, my turn to surprise you.

I'm going to be giving special instructions to the jury regarding Mr. Simpson's examination by Mr. Petrocelli. I've written it out; I'm going to pass it out to you. Look it over before I come out or before we have the jury come out. If you want to make a record, we'll do that before I make any statements to the jurors.

KEY QUOTE

# 4 (Court hands document to counsel.)

# 5 THE COURT:

My suggestion is, you guys go out and study it.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (2)

Hiroshi Fujisaki

Now that I have you in chambers, my turn to surprise you.

Playful reversal — the judge surprises counsel for once, signaling he is taking proactive control of how Simpson's testimony is framed for the jury.

Hiroshi Fujisaki

I'm going to be giving special instructions to the jury regarding Mr. Simpson's examination by Mr. Petrocelli.

Indicates the judge felt Simpson's examination required special contextual guidance for the jury, suggesting the testimony raised unusual issues.

Notable Exchanges (1)

Hiroshi Fujisaki•counsel

Judge distributes a self-drafted jury instruction and sends counsel out to review it before the jury is brought in.

strategic

Light Moments (1)

Hiroshi Fujisaki

Judge quips 'my turn to surprise you' before revealing he has drafted a special jury instruction.

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 8413 • 5 utterances

Civil Trial

Department 103