Jury communication discussion

📄 Jury communication discussion — Friday, February 24, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\FEB\24\JURY-COMMUNICATION-DISCUSSION.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 25 of 167

Date: Friday, February 24, 1995 • Utterances: 12

A brief off-the-cuff discussion among counsel and the judge about how to handle the jury, who had been waiting in the back room after a scheduling problem prevented calling a witness out of order. The judge settled on a vague but friendly explanation to send them home until Monday.

# 1 (THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD IN OPEN COURT:)

# 2 THE COURT:

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, COUNSEL. WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST I DO WITH OUR JURORS SINCE I HAVE THEM ALL IN THE BACK ROOM NOW? TELL THEM SOMETHING?

# 3 MR. COCHRAN:

BRING THEM OUT AND SAY HELLO TO THEM.

# 4 THE COURT:

ACTUALLY, I THINK I WILL, BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN --

# 5 MS. LEWIS:

THEY ARE GOING TO NOTICE MISS CLARK'S ABSENCE, YOUR HONOR.

KEY QUOTE

# 6 MR. COCHRAN:

I DON'T THINK THAT IS GOING TO BE A MAJOR PROBLEM.

# 7 MS. LEWIS:

I DON'T WANT TO BLAME SOMETHING ON HER IMPLICITLY AND WONDERING WHY THEY ARE HERE.

# 8 MR. COCHRAN:

PLEASE BRING THEM OUT AND THANK THEM FOR COMING IN, YOUR HONOR.

# 9 THE COURT:

I'M GOING TO TELL THEM THAT THERE WAS AND UNUSUAL SITUATION AND THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY WE WERE GOING TO CALL A WITNESS OUT OF ORDER, WE HAD SOME DIFFICULTY IN DOING THAT, SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. WE WILL SEE THEM MONDAY.

KEY QUOTE

# 10 MR. DARDEN:

CAN WE TELL THEM THAT IT IS NOT OUR FAULT.

KEY QUOTE

# 11 THE COURT:

I WILL TELL THEM SCHEDULING PROBLEMS BEYOND OUR CONTROL.

# 12 (BRIEF PAUSE.)

Temperature

routine

Key Quotes (3)

Lance A. Ito

I'M GOING TO TELL THEM THAT THERE WAS AN UNUSUAL SITUATION AND THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY WE WERE GOING TO CALL A WITNESS OUT OF ORDER, WE HAD SOME DIFFICULTY IN DOING THAT, SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. WE WILL SEE THEM MONDAY.

Judge's chosen framing — vague enough to avoid assigning blame or revealing procedural disputes to the jury.

Christopher Darden

CAN WE TELL THEM THAT IT IS NOT OUR FAULT.

Rare moment of levity from Darden; reflects prosecutorial sensitivity to jury perception.

Cheri Lewis

THEY ARE GOING TO NOTICE MISS CLARK'S ABSENCE, YOUR HONOR.

Shows the prosecution's awareness that jurors track personnel changes and may draw inferences from them.

Notable Exchanges (1)

Cheri Lewis•Johnnie Cochran

Lewis raises concern that jurors will notice Marcia Clark's absence and draw negative inferences; Cochran dismisses it as not a major problem.

strategic

Light Moments (1)

Christopher Darden

Darden asks if the jury can be told the delay 'is not our fault,' prompting Ito to diplomatically reframe it as 'scheduling problems beyond our control.'

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 5060 • 12 utterances

Criminal Trial

Department 103