COSCA Policy Statement: It's Time to Improve Juror Experience from Summoning to Verdict
The Conference of State Court Administrators just published “Citizens on Call: Responding to the Needs of 21st Century Jurors." The call to action recognizes four ongoing challenges for those who are summoned and serve on juries.
1. Uncertainty, lack of control, and long wait times
2. Cost
3. Privacy concerns and fears about personal and family safety
4. Post-trial anxiety, guilt, and vicarious trauma
Jury Verdict Vacated Due to Defense Counsel Sleeping During Much of Trial
In Commonwealth v. Watt, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, exercising its “plenary review of all murder convictions,” vacated a guilty verdict against Nyasani Watt after relying on evidence trial counsel fell asleep several times during the trial, including during jury selection and the questioning of two witnesses, one being a key witness for the prosecution. An affidavit further recounted that “others in the court room, including the trial judge and prosecutor,” witnessed trial counsel sleeping during portions of the trial, that trial counsel at one point was snoring, and that trial counsel tried to conceal his fatigued state. Query: Did the jurors make anything of this?
Another Jury Verdict Vacated - 20 Years After Trial
In another Bay State murder case (Commonwealth v. Marrero), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts overturned Mr. Marrero’s jury verdict because posttrial DNA testing showed blood stains on his leather jacket excluded the victim as its source. At trial, the prosecutor’s closing argument emphasized a witness’s testimony she saw bloodstains on Marrero’s jacket. The high court found the trial court improperly denied consideration of the DNA results and concluded:
Because the blood on the jacket was the strongest physical evidence tying the defendant to the murder, and because the Commonwealth used it to corroborate the testimony of a vital witness with credibility issues, we conclude that it was a real factor in the jury's deliberations. Consequently, had the new test results been admitted in evidence, and the Commonwealth been unable to connect the bloodstains to the murder, there is a substantial risk that the outcome of the trial would have been different. We therefore vacate the defendant's conviction and remand for a new trial.
New Mexico Journalist Reports for Jury Duty & Tells It Like It Is
Jessica Onsurez is a reporter for the Carlsbad Current-Argus. After being on call for jury duty in the last three months of 2023, she recently published her reflections on experiencing multiple jury selections.