Prosecutors wary on jury legislation
A proposal for consideration in the upcoming legislative session is sparking concerns among district attorneys.
State Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans, wants to allow jurors in criminal trials to use notebooks and pens and take notes.
The materials would allow them to jot down testimony and make notes on legal arguments during murder trials and other criminal proceedings.
“I had several constituents who sat on jury trials last year. They said these issues are complex,” he said.
The rules on allowing jurors to take notes on what they see and hear during a trial vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In Louisiana, at the state district court level, only jurors in civil trials can be given writing supplies. Prosecutors said there are good reasons for the restrictions.
Senate Bill 5 would overrule those concerns. The proposal will be considered during the legislative session that starts March 12.
The legislation has been assigned to Senate Committee on Judiciary C.
East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said he is opposed to the proposal.
“Someone may get the advantage, as a juror because they’re a good note taker and they may take it down wrong,” Moore said.
He said other jurors could rely on the best notetaker’s scribblings, rather than on what they heard during the trial.
Moore said jurors can take evidence into the jury room during deliberations, even though they cannot review transcripts of testimony or written documents.
He said he wants jurors to listen and look while the trial is proceeding.
“What you can recollect and can observe from the stand is the best practice,” Moore said.
Donaldsonville District Attorney Ricky Babin of the 23rd Judicial District said he has reservations about Murray’s legislation.
Babin said he fears that a juror will scribble notes throughout the trial, rather than listen to the testimony.
He said he is not taking an official position on the legislation just yet.
“I have to hear all the arguments and make an opinion,” Babin said.
State Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge and an attorney, said jurors might benefit from taking notes.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea,” Claitor said.
He said jurors’ notes should not become part of the court record.
Murray’s legislation would not require jurors to take notes. It just would give them the option of doing so, and using them during deliberations.
“Immediately upon return of the jury’s verdict, the court shall cause the notes to be destroyed,” the bill states.
Murray said he is uncertain why jurors in civil trials, but not in criminal trials, can take notes.
He said constituents who served on recent criminal trials said they could have done a better job, had they been handed a notepad at the start of the proceedings.