Pennsylvania Code
Title 231 - RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
Part I - GENERAL
Chapter 200 - BUSINESS OF COURTS
Rule 223.2 - Conduct of the Jury Trial. Juror Note Taking
Universal Citation: 231 PA Code ยง 223.2
Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 38, September 21, 2024
(a)
(1)
Whenever a jury trial is expected to last for more than two days, jurors,
except as otherwise provided by subdivision (a)(2), may take notes during the
proceedings and use their notes during deliberations.
(2) Jurors are not permitted to take notes
when the judge is instructing the jury as to the law that will govern the
case.
(b) The court shall give an appropriate cautionary instruction to the jury prior to the commencement of the testimony before the jurors. The instruction shall include:
(1) Jurors are not required to take notes and
those who take notes are not required to take extensive notes,
(2) Note taking should not divert jurors from
paying full attention to the evidence and evaluating witness
credibility,
(3) Notes are merely
memory aids and are not evidence or the official record,
(4) Jurors who take few or no notes should
not permit their independent recollection of the evidence to be influenced by
the fact that other jurors have taken notes,
(5) Notes are confidential and will not be
reviewed by the court or anyone else,
(6) A juror may not show his or her notes or
disclose their contents to other jurors until deliberations begin, but may show
the notes or disclose the contents during deliberations,
(7) Jurors shall not take their notes out of
the courtroom except to use their notes during deliberations, and
(8) All juror notes will be collected after
the trial is over and immediately destroyed.
(c) The court shall
(1) provide materials suitable for note
taking,
(2) safeguard all juror
notes at each recess and at the end of each trial day, and
(3) collect all juror notes as soon as the
jury is dismissed and, without inspection, immediately destroy them.
(d)
(1) Neither the court nor counsel may (i)
request or suggest that jurors take notes, (ii) comment on their note taking,
or (iii) attempt to read any notes.
(2) Juror notes may not be used by any party
to the litigation as a basis for a request for a new trial.
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