Smith v. The State of California Department of Highway Patrol

Filing 121

Supplemental Preliminary Jury Instruction Re Jury Questions to Witnesses. (jdlc1S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/19/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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NICOLE SUMMER SMITH,

Case No. 13-cv-01341-JD

Plaintiff,
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v.

SUPPLEMENTAL PRELIMINARY
JURY INSTRUCTION

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY PATROL,
Defendant.

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The Court will give the jury the attached jury instruction regarding questions to witnesses
and provide copies of the attached form.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 19, 2015
______________________________________
JAMES DONATO
United States District Judge

INSTRUCTION ON QUESTIONS TO WITNESSES BY JURORS

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You will be allowed to propose written questions to witnesses after the lawyers have completed
their questioning of each witness. You may propose questions in order to clarify the testimony,
but you are not to express any opinion about the testimony or argue with a witness. If you propose
any questions, remember that your role is that of a neutral fact finder, not an advocate.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Before I excuse each witness, I will offer you the opportunity to write out a question on a form
provided by the court. Do not sign the question. I will review the question with the attorneys to
determine if it is legally proper.
There are some proposed questions that I will not permit, or will not ask in the wording submitted
by the juror. This might happen either due to the rules of evidence or other legal reasons, or
because the question is expected to be answered later in the case. If I do not ask a proposed
question, or if I rephrase it, do not speculate as to the reasons. Do not give undue weight to
questions you or other jurors propose. You should evaluate the answers to those questions in the
same manner you evaluate all of the other evidence.
By giving you the opportunity to propose questions, I am not requesting or suggesting that you do
so. It will often be the case that a lawyer has not asked a question because it is legally
objectionable or because a later witness may be addressing that subject.

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Source

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Ninth Circuit Model Civil Jury Instruction 1.15.

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Smith v. The State of California Department of Highway Patrol
United States District Court, Northern District of California
Case No. 3:13-cv-01341-JD

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JUROR QUESTION FORM

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Please use this form to propose questions to be asked to a witness. Do not sign the
form. After the witness is done testifying, hand the form to the courtroom deputy.
Please remember that in proposing questions, your role is that of a neutral factfinder, not an advocate.

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Name of witness: ____________________________________________
Question(s):

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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TO BE FILLED OUT BY THE COURT:
Date and time question was proposed:

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Question asked? (Yes/No/As revised):

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