Suggested jury instruction on post-verdict contact with jurors

From Appendix in Commonwealth v. Moore, 474 Mass. 541 (2016)

Suggested jury instruction

"Now that your service is concluded, the question may arise whether you may discuss this case with the lawyers who presented it to you. Whether you discuss your jury service on this case with anyone is entirely up to you. The attorneys may desire to talk with the members of the jury. For your guidance, you are advised that it is entirely proper for you to talk with the attorneys, and you are at liberty to do so. However, you are not required to do so and may decline to speak with an attorney. Whether you do so or not is entirely a matter of your own choice. If you choose to talk with the attorneys, please do not discuss the substance or content of the jury's deliberations, including the reasons for the jury's verdict. However, in the unlikely event that any juror during deliberations provided information about the case or any party to the case that was not in evidence, you may tell the attorneys what information was provided, but you may not discuss the effect this information had on jury deliberations. If you prefer not to be contacted by an attorney after you are discharged, you may inform me or a court officer in person or in writing, and we will communicate this to the attorneys. Further, if you decline to discuss the case, either today or in the future, and an attorney persists in discussing the case over your objection or becomes critical of your service as a juror, please report the incident to the court."

Source

Comm. v. Moore, 474 Mass. 541 (2016)

Date published:	June 16, 2016