Instruction 10.100, Criminal Model Jury Instructions for Use in the District Court

JUROR CONTACT AFTER TRIAL

“Going forward, on request of any party, the trial judge shall instruct the jury

regarding an attorney’s right to contact and communicate with jurors after trial,

and a juror’s right to decline to speak with an attorney postverdict.”

Commonwealth v. Moore, 474 Mass. 541, 551, 555 (2016).

Now that your service is concluded, the question may arise

whether you may discuss this case with the lawyers who presented it

to you. Whether you discuss your jury service on this case with

anyone is entirely up to you. The attorneys may desire to talk with the

members of the jury.

For your guidance, you are advised that it is entirely proper for

you to talk with the attorneys, and you are at liberty to do so.

However, you are not required to do so and may decline to speak with

an attorney. Whether you do so or not is entirely a matter of your own

choice.

If you choose to talk with the attorneys, please do not discuss

the substance or content of the jury's deliberations, including the

reasons for the jury's verdict. However, in the unlikely event that any

juror during deliberations provided information about the case or any

party to the case that was not in evidence, you may tell the attorneys

what information was provided, but you may not discuss the effect

this information had on jury deliberations.

If you prefer not to be contacted by an attorney after you are

discharged, you may inform me or a court officer in person or in

writing, and we will communicate this to the attorneys. Further, if you

decline to discuss the case, either today or in the future, and an

attorney persists in discussing the case over your objection or

becomes critical of your service as a juror, please report the incident

to the court.