CrimLaw

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The Ohio Supreme Court has found that questions from the jurors are allowed during trial.

In theory I agree with this in its entirety. But I've only had one experience where a juror tried to ask a question and I was scared to death. The case was breaking my client's way and it was looking like he was going to walk away a free man. Then a juror came back from a lunch break and handed the deputy a slip of paper which he took to the judge. Before the jury came back into the courtroom proper, the judge read the question to the Commonwealth and me. It was based on testimony my primary witness had given and was devastatingly insightful. With a simple yes or no answer it would probably have determined guilt or innocence. The question was based on some testimony which my witness came up with for the first time while on the stand** so I did not know the answer to the question. Since I was feeling pretty good about the case I did not want that question asked. As I was standing there with my brain scrambling for a reason to exclude the question I looked up and realized that the Commonwealth didn't want that question asked either. Anyway, after letting us stew for a few seconds the judge sua sponte announced that he wasn't going to let the question be asked because he thought that it was procedurally barred. With no objections he called the jury in told them to just listen to our questions and we went forward.



** It is amazing how, no matter how often you prep the witness, witnesses come up with new facts almost every time they are on the stand. Usually it is useless surplusage. But every so often . . .

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