Jury - criminal case

[rwa5659]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? West Virginia

When a jury is in deliberations and ask a question of the court in writing, is it written by the Jury foreman, and or can it be written by any of the jury members asking the question?

Once the question is written, does it need to be signed by the jury foreman, or person who wrote it?

Does the trial judge give the response to the question, or is the question answered by both the State attorney, or the defense attorney, or both, or all three?

If the judge provides a document or any documents in response to the jury request, is he required to provide a copy of the what was provided to the jury to the defendant, before giving it to the jury, or can he give a copy of what he had provided to the jury at a later date?

 

[FlyingRon]

As near as I know the only requirement is that the communications be done in writing and that it be kept with the case records. No requirements to sign things nor is there a requirement as to who can ask the question.


What "document" are you referring to. Anything that has been introduced in evidence is fair game for the jury to have. Other items are possibly a problem. Points of law are supposed to be part of the (written) instructions to the jury.

 

[quincy]

When the jurors have a question for the judge, it must be written out and signed by the foreperson who passes the note to the bailiff who passes it on to the judge - this according to West Virginia Jury Instructions, 6th Edition.

 

[justalayman]

From what I've seen the foreman is the contact point so generally that is who would alert the guard/bailiff to the issue.

It could be written by anybody but often it would be written by the foreman because, well, they are the foreman and generally when some juror may pose a question or need to the group, the foreman would often reduce it to writing and deliver it to the guard/bailiff.

As Ron states evidence already entered as evidence is available to review, including the transcript of the trial.

If there is a question it depends what the question involves. It it involves a clarification of the law the court provides the response.

Offhand I can't think of too many other questions a jury could ask that could be answered. New testimony is obviously not allowed nor is any persons opinion regarding the testimony. At most I would see that could be answered would be definitions of terms used in the trial. For such a question the court would provide definitions or provide the jury with a dictionary.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to West Virginia's Jury Instructions, for the benefit of rwa5659. It is a good source for information on West Virginia jury instructions.

http://www.lb7.uscourts.gov/wvajury.pdf