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When Jurors Run the Show


— April 3, 2006

Try to imagine defense counsel’s dilemma as a plaintiff’s expert, answering jurors’ questions, takes over the trial. The witness proceeds to expound, lecture and even stride the courtroom floor — sometimes even straying from his area of expertise. Does the defense keep silent? Or object and thereby risk alienating the jurors? It’s a quandary posed by the practice — as seen in the latest New Jersey Vioxx trial — of allowing juror questions, and there seem to be few guidelines to resolve it.

Details here from the New Jersey Law Journal via Law.com.


Try to imagine defense counsel’s dilemma as a plaintiff’s expert, answering jurors’ questions, takes over the trial. The witness proceeds to expound, lecture and even stride the courtroom floor — sometimes even straying from his area of expertise. Does the defense keep silent? Or object and thereby risk alienating the jurors? It’s a quandary posed by the practice — as seen in the latest New Jersey Vioxx trial — of allowing juror questions, and there seem to be few guidelines to resolve it.

Details here from the New Jersey Law Journal via Law.com.

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