11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Civil) 1.4

During this trial, you may submit questions to a witness after the lawyers

have finished their own questioning. Here is how the procedure works: After each

witness has testified, and the lawyers have asked all of their questions, I’ll ask if

any of you have questions. If you have a question, write it down and give it to the

court staff.

You may submit a question for a witness only to clarify an answer or to help

you understand the evidence. Our experience with juror questions indicates that

jurors rarely have more than a few questions for any one witness, and there may be

no questions at all for some witnesses.

If you submit a question, the court staff will give it to me and I’ll share your

questions with the lawyers in the case. If the rules of evidence allow your question,

one of the lawyers or I will read your question to the witness. I may modify the

form or phrasing of a question so that it’s allowed under the evidence rules.

Sometimes, I may not allow the questions to be read to the witness, either because

the law does not allow it or because another witness is in a better position to

answer the question. If I can’t allow the witness to answer a question, you must not

draw any conclusions from that fact or speculate on what the answer might have

been.

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Here are several important things to keep in mind about your questions for

the witnesses:

· First, you must submit all questions in writing. Please don’t ask any

questions aloud.

· Second, the court can’t re -call witnesses to the stand for additional

juror questions. If you have a question for a particular witness, you

must submit it when I ask.

· Finally, because you should remain neutral and open- minded

throughout the trial, you should phrase your questions in a way that

doesn’t express an opinion about the case or a witness. You must

keep an open mind until you’ve heard all the evidence, the closing

arguments, and my final instructions on the law.