Del. P.J.I. Civ. § 24.2

JUROR NOTE-TAKING AND EXHIBIT BINDERS

{At beginning of trial}:

I am allowing you to take notes during trial. If you wish to take notes, be sure

that your note-taking does not interfere with your ability to follow and consider all

the evidence. As you see, we have a court reporter here who will be transcribing the

testimony during the course of the trial. But you should not assume that the

transcripts will be available for your reviewing during deliberations. In fact, you

should assume the opposite – that there will be no transcripts available during

deliberations. In turn, you must pay close attention to the testimony as it is given.

Each of you may take notes. No one is required to take notes. If you wish to

take notes, be sure that your note-taking does not interfere with your ability to follow

and consider all the evidence. Overuse of note-taking may be distracting. Be brief—

don’t try to summarize all the testimony. You must determine the credibility of

witnesses; so you must observe the demeanor and appearance of each person on the

witness stand. Note-taking must not distract you from that task. You may not

discuss your notes with anyone until deliberations begin. At the end of each day,

the Court Security Officer will collect your notes and return them to you the next

day.

{At the close of evidence}:

I have allowed you to take notes during trial. The purpose of taking notes is to

assist you during your deliberations. During your deliberations you should not allow

the notes taken by one juror or several jurors to control your consideration of the

evidence. Instead, give due regard to the individual recollection of each juror

whether or not supported by written notes. Your ultimate judgment should be the

product of the collective memory of all twelve jurors.

{If applicable}:

I have also permitted you to have notebook binders containing exhibits. The

fact that evidence is contained in the binder does not mean that you should give it

more weight than other evidence in the case. These documents have no more or less

weight than the other evidence presented.