Overseeing The Texas Pattern Jury Charges | Judge Dan Hinde | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
As any seasoned trial attorney will tell you, one of the key events during a jury trial is the reading of the jury instructions to the jury. During the reading of the instructions, for a lengthy amount of time, the jury hears...more
You don't need us to tell you that trials are increasingly rare. So when heading to trial, trial counsel must know their client's story and must be prepared to tell that story to the trier of fact—a feat that requires...more
The instructions for jurors are clear: They are to take an issue that has no effect on them, listen dispassionately to the evidence and arguments, apply the facts to the law, and make a decision. That is the model, but in...more
Recognizing and reducing bias is obviously essential in a litigation context. But when it comes to “de-biasing,” it helps to see instructions as one tool in the toolbox, but not a tool that’s guaranteed to fix everything. In...more
Texas attorneys know the Pattern Jury Charges as valuable guide to properly instructing a jury at trial. But most don’t know all the work that goes into creating and updating the various volumes. In this episode, Todd Smith...more
Jurors are often put in the position of assessing the probability or risk of something at the time a decision was made, before the consequences can be known. “How likely is it that a given result will be the outcome from a...more
Many litigators recognize the benefits of giving jurors a set of substantive jury instructions before opening arguments. Such preliminary substantive jury instructions are a beneficial and effective tool. This is not a new...more
Traditionally, we might think about what happens in the jury room as a kind of “Black box,” an unknown process with jurors keeping their secrets on how they got to their verdicts. In practice, however, we know a fair amount...more
What do you get when you mix a severed finger, a persnickety trial judge, and a global denial of objections to jury charges? Yet another reminder to make timely and specific objections to jury instructions, even when doing so...more
HAFCO FOUNDRY AND MACHINE CO. v. GMS MINE REPAIR - Before Newman, Chen, and Stoll. Opinion filed per curiam. Appeal from the Southern District of West Virginia. Summary: Objections to jury instructions should be timely...more
There is a persistent belief among many mock jurors that I have seen in certain kinds of cases. The belief is that liability attaches automatically to possession, and jurors usually express it through the lens of home...more
In the real world, disputes are often settled by someone with more or better knowledge, or at least someone claiming to have more or better knowledge. The courtroom, however, is different. It is a setting that is designed to...more
Whenever I am running a mock trial and playing the role of the judge, I read the instructions out loud to the mock jurors while they also read along using their own paper copies. I sometimes think that is overkill: If it were...more
Who is a juror? Experienced legal persuaders know a juror isn’t just a passive receptacle for your arguments, and isn’t just an instrument, a route or obstacle to your preferred verdict in the case. Instead, a juror is fully...more
Persuading a group that will then go off and deliberate is a unique persuasive setting. In a way, it can be called ‘Second Order’ persuasion, because it isn’t just about the person being convinced in the moment they’re...more
This will likely be the last piece I write on last month’s trial. We are scheduled to start another trial in January 2018, with additional trials in April and May, and they may gin up some additional insights that I think...more
In Byrd v. Stubbs, 190 So. 3d 26 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016), the Mississippi Court of Appeals reminded us of the need to be diligent during a charge conference by raising specific objections to a proposed jury instruction, as...more
This chart provides a quick reference regarding motions and objections that may be made immediately prior to, during, and immediately after trial to preserve issues for appellate review. ...more
I recently attended an all day CLE which featured a Q&A/panel discussion of 5 excellent NC Superior Court trial judges discussing civil litigation in NC. Below are my top 12 take-aways...more
The jury instructions and verdict form are often treated as an afterthought relegated to an associate just before trial when lead counsel is focused on opening statements and presenting evidence. Don’t let this happen. The...more
You have been asked to prepare a set of jury instructions and a verdict form for trial. What do you do? Where do you start? In my last op-ed, I discussed how to prepare for the charge conference. Now it’s time to talk...more
You have been asked to prepare a set of jury instructions and a verdict form for trial. What do you do? Where do you start? Over the next several weeks, we will offer some basic guidelines for drafting jury instructions or...more