It is hoped that this pamphlet will help you understand the procedure in the courts of Florida and better enable you to do your part in administering justice.
You have been summoned to render important service as a juror. You enjoy the privileges of citizenship and the protection of your liberties and property by the government. Therefore, in return you have a duty as a citizen to participate in a very important aspect of our democracy -- jury duty. For a short time you will, as a juror, serve as an officer of the court, along with the lawyers and the judges. As a juror, you are a part of the judicial system of our state and your services are as important as those of the judge. The judge's duty is to correctly instruct you as to the law in each case. You are required to base your verdict upon the evidence as you hear it in court and upon the law as the judge instructs you in it. You are obligated to perform this service honestly and conscientiously, without fear or favor.
If you are selected to sit as a trial (or petit) juror on a case, you will serve until that case is completed. If you are not selected as a trial juror, your service will be complete at the end of one day.
You should report to the proper location on the date and the hour stated in your summons. Jury management personnel will guide you through your jury service.
Once you are assigned to a courtroom, a bailiff will be available to direct and assist you. The bailiff is the deputy sheriff assigned to duty in the courtroom and will be present whenever the court is in session.
Unfortunately, delays are an unavoidable part of our judicial system. Judges and lawyers will make every effort to keep the cases moving along so that individual jurors will not be required to wait unnecessarily, but there will be idle time caused by unavoidable delays and other courtÂrelated matters. Thus, jurors are encouraged to use that time to catch up on reading, letter writing, needlework or other activities which can be done with a minimum of noise.
Generally, you will be permitted to return home at the close of the day's session of court.
QUALIFICATIONS OF A JUROR
Jurors must be 18 years old, Florida citizens and registered voters of their county of residence.
EXEMPTIONS FROM JURY DUTY
All persons who are summoned to serve as jurors must attend unless they have been excused by the court. Attendance is essential to the fair administration of justice. People who fail to respond to a jury summons without being properly excused can be fined up to $100 and in addition, held in contempt of court.
Disqualifications or excusals from jury service include:
1. Any expectant mother and any parent who is not employed fullÂtime and who has custody of a child under six years of age, will be excused from jury service upon request.
2. A person may be excused from jury service upon showing of hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity.
3. A person 70 years of age or older will be excused from jury service upon request.
4. A person who has served as a juror in his or her county of residence is automatically excused from jury duty for one year from their last day of service.
5. A presiding judge may, at his or her discretion, excuse a practicing attorney, a practicing physician or a person who is physically unable from jury service.
6. No person interested in any issue to be tried shall be a juror. But no person will be disqualified from sitting on the trial of any suit in which the state, city or county is a party just because they live or pay taxes in the state, county or city.
7. A person cannot qualify for jury service if he or she is under prosecution for any crime, or who has been convicted in Florida, any federal court, or any other state, territory or country of bribery, forgery, perjury, larceny, or any other offense that is a felony in this state or, which if it had been committed in this state would be a felony (unless restored to civil rights).
8. The governor, lieutenant governor, cabinet officers, clerks of court or judges cannot be a juror. In addition, any fullÂtime federal, state, or local law enforcement officer or such entities' investigative personnel shall be excused from jury service unless such persons choose to serve.
PAYMENT FOR JURY DUTY AND EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
Effective July 1, 1993, jurors who are regularly employed and who continue to receive regular wages while serving as a juror are not entitled to receive compensation from the state for the first three days of juror service.
Jurors who are not regularly employed or who do not continue to receive regular wages while serving as a juror are entitled to receive $15 per day for the first three days of juror service.
Each juror who serves more than three days will be paid by the state for the fourth day of service and each day thereafter at the rate of $30 per day of service.
Juror service includes being summoned and reporting for jury service as well as actual service on a jury. Juror service does not include days when the juror was notified before reporting that it was not necessary to appear. Regular employment includes fullÂtime employment and partÂtime, temporary, and casual employment, as long as the employment hours of a juror can be reasonably determined by a schedule r by custom and practice established during the threeÂmonth period preceding the term of service as a juror.
Jurors are not entitled to additional reimbursement from the state for travel or other outÂofÂpocket expenses.
A juror who receives unemployment benefits does not lose such benefits because he or she receives compensation for juror service.
Any juror who is excused from jury service at the juror's own request is not entitled to receive any compensation.
LENGTH OF SERVICE
The length of the term of service for a petit juror shall not exceed one day, unless the juror is assigned to or impaneled on a trial that is not completed in one day or unless the court orders otherwise. This means if you are selected for a jury on the day you report for service, you will serve until that trial is completed. The average trial lasts about three days (although some are shorter and some are longer). If you are not selected as a juror on your first day, your service will be complete at the end of that day. Every effort will be made to release you as early in the day as possible after it is determined your services will not be needed.
TYPES OF TRIALS
Cases which come before a petit jury are divided into two general classes: civil and criminal.
In a civil trial, parties in dispute come into court to determine and settle their respective rights. The person who brings an action against another is the "plaintiff." The person against whom the action is brought is the "defendant."
In a criminal trial, the persons bringing the action are the people of the State of Florida, represented by the "prosecutor." The "defendant" is a person or corporation accused of a violating a law.
THE QUESTIONING OF JURORS
You will be required to take two oaths before you can serve as a juror. First, you will be sworn to answer truthfully all questions asked of you regarding your qualifications to serve. Then, when you are called to a panel for a particular case, the judge and the lawyers will ask additional questions of you regarding your background. This latter questioning is called "voir dire" examination.
If you have never before served as a juror, some of the questions may seem personal, but the questions are not intended to embarrass or reflect upon a juror in any way. Lawyers have a duty to ask questions to assist them in deciding which jurors to select.
There may be many reasons why a person originally on the jury panel might not be considered a wholly fair and impartial juror in the particular case about to be tried. The prospective juror might be closely related to one of the parties in the case. The prospective juror may subconsciously have some prejudice regarding the type of case to be tried that would tend to make him or her a less than desirable juror for the case. If a juror thinks he or she may be disqualified for any reason, whether or not the matter is brought out by questions directly asked, the juror should rise and tell the judge and the lawyers about it.
A juror may be excused "for cause" when the judge is of the opinion that the juror cannot render a fair and impartial verdict. The attorneys can also exercise a limited number of "peremptory challenges," by which they may excuse a juror without stating any reason. If a juror is challenged or excused, it is not a reflection on the juror in any way. That a juror is excused means simply that in the particular case it is proper and lawful to excuse him or her.
THE COURSE OF A TRIAL
CIVIL
After the jury has been sworn in, the plaintiff's lawyer outlines the nature of the case and the evidence that will be offered to support the plaintiff's case. This is called an "opening statement." It is not intended to be an argument and is not evidence.
The defense lawyer may make an opening statement for the defendant, or the lawyer may reserve opening statements until the plaintiff's case has been completed.
The first evidence is received from witnesses for the plaintiff who are called to the witness stand and sworn to tell the truth before giving their testimony.
As a rule, every witness is examined by the lawyer for one side and may be crossÂexamined by the lawyer for the other side (or questioned by the judge) as the trial progresses, in an effort to determine just exactly what the truth is.
After the plaintiff has put in evidence, the lawyer for the defendant may make an opening statement, if he or she has chosen to wait until this time to do so. The defense attorney may call witnesses for the defendant, who are subject to examination and crossÂexamination.
The plaintiff's lawyer may put witnesses on the stand in rebuttal, or reply, and they are likewise subject to examination and crossÂexamination.
When all of the evidence is in, the lawyer for the plaintiff usually makes an argument intended to help the jury analyze the evidence. The argument is also an attempt to convince the jury that based upon the evidence presented, the plaintiff is entitled to win. The lawyer for the defendant makes an argument for the defendant for the same purpose. Finally, the lawyer for the plaintiff makes a concluding argument in reply. After these arguments have been made, the judge instructs the jury on the law.
During the trial, the judge decides all disputes about the law and the rules for trying the case.
The judge may rule upon many questions that are submitted by the attorneys and may hear arguments of counsel in the absence of the jury. The rulings of the judge involve questions of law, not fact, and must not be questioned by the jury as to their correctness for or against either side. Such questions are decided by the judge as the law requires. A ruling does not indicate that the judge is taking sides. In effect, the judge is merely saying: "The law does not permit that question to be asked," or "That question is permissible under the law."
At the close of the trial, the judge will instruct you on the law and tell you the principal questions you are to decide. The case is then turned over to the jury. The power and responsibility moves from the bench to the jury room where you will consider the testimony and the instructions given by the court.
Throughout the course of the trial, jurors are permitted to separate when the court is not in session. Only in rare instances are jurors "sequestered" or kept together to prevent outside influence.
CRIMINAL
The procedure in a criminal trial is basically the same. The prosecutor begins the case by outlining the evidence against the defendant. In a criminal case, the state accuses an individual or corporation with violation of a law.
After the prosecutor and the defense attorneys present all of the evidence to the jury and make their closing arguments and the judge instructs on the law, the case is ready for the jury's consideration. If there is a conviction, the judge determines the appropriate treatment or punishment.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER DURING THE TRIAL
After you are sworn as a juror in a case, there are some rules of conduct which you should observe:
1. Don't be late for court sessions.
Since each juror must hear all the evidence, tardiness causes delay. The trial cannot proceed until you are present. If you are late, you will cause unnecessary delays in the trial.
2. Always sit in the same seat in the jury box.
This enables the judge, the clerk and the lawyers to identify you more easily.
3. Listen to every question and answer.
Since you must base your verdict upon the evidence, you should hear every question asked and every answer given. If you do not hear some of the evidence for any reason, ask to have it repeated. If you do not understand some phrase or expression used, ask the judge to have it explained.
4. Don't talk about the case.
While you are a juror and before you retire to the jury room for deliberations, you should not talk to anyone about the case, not even to another juror. You should not permit anyone to talk to you or talk in your presence about the case. If any person persists in talking to you about it or attempts to influence you as a juror, you should report that fact to the judge immediately.
5. Don't be an "amateur detective."
Since the only evidence you can consider is that presented in court, you are not allowed to make an independent investigation or to visit any of the places involved in the case. If it is proper or necessary for you to visit it, the judge will so order and send the jury together to see it.
6. Control your emotions.
You should not indicate, by exclamation, facial contortion, or any other expression, how any evidence or any incident of the trial affects you.
7. If you are in doubt about your rights or duties as a juror, you should not ask anyone but the judge for information. If an emergency affecting your service should arise, consult the judge about it.
CONDUCT IN THE JURY ROOM
Your first duty when the jury begins deliberations is to select a foreperson. The foreperson acts as the spokesperson. The foreperson sees that discussion is carried on in a sensible and orderly fashion, that issues submitted for your decision are fully and fairly discussed and that every juror has a chance to say what he or she thinks upon every question. The foreperson will sign your verdict when you arrive at one.
The foreperson and each juror should see that discussion in the jury room is never so loud that it can be heard outside. Until a verdict is announced, no outsider should know what goes on in the jury room.
THE INTEGRITY OF THE JURORS
In discharging your duty as a juror, you must conduct yourself in such a way that no one can question your actions. Any judicial officers, whether judges, lawyers or jurors, who do any act tending to destroy public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary, is thereby unfit to perform their duty. Jurors should not accept any gifts or favors, no matter how insignificant or trivial, from parties to the cause or their lawyers, directly or indirectly. A juror should not, in the courtroom, corridors or elsewhere, talk with the lawyers, the parties to the case, witnesses or any other persons interested in any way in the trial of any case. A jury should avoid all familiarity and all appearance of familiarity with everyone interested in a decision of the jury.
Both sides have spent considerable time preparing for the trial. Both will present arguments to support their aspects of the case. Jurors must be patient while evidence is presented and must not form any conclusions until all evidence and all arguments have been given and until the judge has given instructions to the jury about the law pertaining to the case.
Justice will be done if jurors base their verdicts solely upon the evidence and upon the judge's instructions as to the law, rather than upon their own notions of what the law is or ought to be.
In case of any doubt as to the proper conduct or any question regarding the trial of the case, the juror should consult the judge. The judge is always ready and available to determine all questions of law pertaining to the case being tried.
The material in this pamphlet represents general legal advice. Since the law is continually changing, some provisions in this pamphlet may be out of date. It is always best to consult an attorney about your legal rights and responsibilities regarding your particular case.
Revised 4/97