Instruction 1.160, Criminal Model Jury Instructions for Use in the District Court

NOTETAKING BY JURORS

Any jurors who wish to do so may take notes during the course of this

trial. Some jurors may feel that notes are helpful, particularly if the case

involves any complicated issues. Of course, you are not required to take

notes, and some of you may feel that taking notes may be a distraction and

interfere with hearing and evaluating all the evidence.

If you do take notes, I suggest you take them sparingly and keep them

brief. Don’t try to summarize all of the testimony. Notes can help you

remember specific testimony, like measurements, or times or distances, or

help you to keep straight the names or relationships of people in the case.

But remember — you must decide whether and how much you believe

the witnesses, and an important part of that is your observation of each

person's appearance on the witness stand. Don’t let note taking distract

you from those important observations. Most of your work in this trial

must be done with your eyes, your ears and your mind, not with your

fingers.

When you get to the jury room, remember that your notes are only an

aid to your memory, and not a substitute for what you actually remember.

Don’t use your notes to try to persuade your fellow jurors; your notes are

not official transcripts. Whether you take notes or not, you must rely on

your own memory in the jury room. Don’t be influenced by the notes of

other jurors.

If you do take notes, please keep them private and don’t show them to

anyone but your fellow jurors. In order to help preserve the confidentiality

of your deliberations, after you have reached a verdict I will direct the court

officers to collect and destroy any notes that have been made in this case.

This instruction is recommended when notetaking is permitted by the judge. See Jury Trial Manual

for Criminal Offenses Tried in the District Court § 2.23. It is adapted from E.J. Devitt and C.B.

Blackmar, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions § 10.06 (Supp. 1980), which was recommended in

Commonwealth v. Wilborne, 382 Mass. 241, 253, 415 N.E.2d 192, 200 (1981), and Commonwealth

v. St. Germain, 381 Mass. 256, 267 n.21, 408 N.E.2d 1358, 1367 n.21 (1980). Superior Court Rule

8A requires that jurors’ notes be destroyed upon the recording of the verdict. It appears that this rule

governs District Court jury sessions. See G.L. c. 218, § 27A(e) (“Trials by juries of six persons shall

proceed in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to trials by jury in the superior court. .

. .”); Commonwealth v. Johnson, 417 Mass. 498, 505 n.7, 631 N.E.2d 1002, 1007 n.7 (1994)

(Superior Court Rule 6 on peremptory challenges “is the method of jury selection to be used by trial

courts in the Commonwealth”).

The judge has discretion to restrict notetaking to the portion of the jury instructions dealing with the

elements of the offenses. Commonwealth v. Dykens, 438 Mass. 827, 830-835, 784 N.E.2d 1107,

1112-1115 (2003).