OZschwitz: Jurors admitted playing Sudoku puzzles during trial

THERE is not much the State Government can do to force jurors to pay attention in court, it admitted yesterday, but some think more can be done to help them do their duty.

The Attorney-General, John Hatzistergos, faced calls to act after a three-month, $1 million drug trial was abandoned when jurors admitted playing Sudoku puzzles during evidence given by 105 witnesses.

But do what? Almost every report on juries raises difficulties posed by long, complex trials that are dominated by important but tedious evidence. To many, they seem to be getting longer.

Some advocate removing juries from long trials, but Mr Hatzistergos denied that trials had blown out, although he acknowledged evidence about phone intercepts and DNA tended to lengthen proceedings.

Jurors ask to be excused for many reasons. The longer the trial, the more likely they are to want to be excused, and the less likely they are to be interested if they have to stay.

A landmark study for the Criminology Research Council last year said a significant problem was that jurors did not understand what was going on.

It spoke to more than 600 jurors in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, and found that while judges were generally found to be clear, barristers were less so. And jurors had problems understanding witnesses and visual evidence, which were "fairly unclear".

Some jurors found barristers difficult to follow. Said one juror: "They leap back, and then they come back, and say, 'Well, on the 17th …', and you think, 'Hey, what were they talking about?"'

In this week's aborted drugs case, the forewoman claimed Sudoku helped her pay attention.

"Some of the evidence is rather drawn out and I find it difficult to maintain my attention the whole time, and that doesn't distract me too much from proceedings."

The study made more conservative recommendations than handing out puzzles: evidence should be presented in a "clear and coherent manner", jurors needed transcripts and copies of exhibits, and they should be encouraged to ask about evidence they do not understand.

The lead author, Associate Professor Jane Goodman-Delahunty of the University of NSW, said alternative jurors for long trials would help stop aborting trials.

The NSW Law Reform Commission recommended the step last year, and the Government has already legislated to allow up to three extra jurors to replace sick or misbehaving jurors.

The Government has also banned jurors from making extra-mural inquiries after the gang rapist Bilal Skaf had one conviction set aside because two jurors made investigations of their own.

The Opposition believes more can be done. The shadow attorney-general, Greg Smith, a former prosecutor, says judges should regularly remind jurors of their duty to pay attention, and that they can ask for a break.

But he also said juror fees needed to be increased, to keep juries representative and, presumably, paying attention.

"Unfortunately, particularly in long trials, some people summoned to serve on the jury seek to be excused because of the likely financial losses, leaving the jury pool without a cross-section of the community," he said.

LNK
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OZschwitz: Jurors admitted playing Sudoku puzzles during trial PgkowJT

OZschwitz: Jurors admitted playing Sudoku puzzles during trial PgkowJT

'Justice' OZschwitz style...
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“The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime.”-- Max Stirner
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OZschwitz: Jurors admitted playing Sudoku puzzles during trial

OZschwitz: Jurors admitted playing Sudoku puzzles during trial

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

Via AnCaps: Law & Enforced Unnatural Order