Washington State Courts - Jury Commission

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Improving the Deliberating Process

37	WASHINGTON’S PATTERN JURY INSTRUCTIONS SHOULD PROVIDE JURORS WITH SUGGESTED DELIBERATION PROCEDURES. THE SUGGESTED PROCEDURES SHOULD INCLUDE SELECTING A PRESIDING JUROR, ORGANIZING THE DISCUSSION, ENCOURAGING FULL PARTICIPATION BY ALL JURORS, HANDLING DISAGREEMENTS, AND TAKING VOTES.
Group Decision-Making Procedures	Many jurors are unfamiliar with group decision-making procedures. They do not know which procedures are more likely to further, and which are more likely to inhibit, their collaborative search for the truth in the evidence. They do not know that taking a vote early in their deliberations can polarize the jury and inhibit their open-minded discussion of the evidence. They do not know how to set up their discussion so that each juror fully participates and the discussion still stays on track. It is therefore not surprising that research shows that jurors spend up to one-quarter of their time trying to get organized.
Procedures in Jury Instructions	Judges can assist jurors by including in their final instructions some suggested, but not dictated, procedures for their deliberations. Other jury reform groups have made similar recommendations.
Sample Jury Instruction	Appendix 6 contains a sample instruction that incorporates instructions being developed elsewhere. We recommend that an instruction along these lines be included in Washington’s pattern jury instructions.
	References: G. Thomas Munsterman, et al., Jury Trial Innovations, pp. 171-73 and Appendix 9 (3^rd ed. 1997) (presenting sample jury instructions on this topic). American Judicature Society, Behind Closed Doors: A Resource Manual to Improve Jury Deliberations (1999) (discussing research and proposing a 10-page booklet for jurors to use in organizing their deliberations). Hastie, Penrod, and Pennington, Inside the Jury (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1983), pp. 230, 232-33 (concluding that “early and frequent voting is … obstructive of reaching a verdict. High rates of voting are associated with the appearance of tight-knit, defensive factions that do not devote all of their energies to an open-minded search for truth in the evidence. Jury instructions should caution the jury to avoid early or frequent polling during deliberation.” ). Arizona Supreme Court Committee on More Effective Use of Juries, Jurors: The Power of 12, p. 104 and Exhibit H (1994) (proposing a jury instruction). District of Columbia Jury Project, Juries for the Year 2000 and Beyond, pp. 65-67 (1998) (proposing a jury instruction). California Blue Ribbon Commission on Jury System Improvement, Final Report, p. 99 and Appendix O (1996) (proposing a jury instruction). Washington Jury Standard 18(c) (3^rd ed. 1997); A.B.A. Jury Standard 18(c) (both of which indicate that trial judges should instruct the jury on the appropriate procedures to be followed during deliberations). WPIC 151.00, WPI 1.08 (pattern jury instructions tell jurors to select a presiding juror and to fill out the verdict forms, but do not otherwise assist with suggested procedures). A Juror’s Guide (juror’s pamphlet prepared by Washington’s trial judges’ associations telling jurors about some of the things they shouldn’t do during deliberations).