Free Proposed Jury Instructions - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:00-cv-02098-REB-MJW

Document 252-14

Filed 09/14/2007

Page 1 of 2

INSTRUCTION NO. _____ The original written instructions are a part of the court record. You are not permitted to write any notes on the original instructions or to deface them in any way. The original instructions and the exhibits are to be returned to the court at the conclusion of your deliberations. On retiring to the jury room to begin your deliberations, you must elect one of your members to act as your foreperson. The foreperson will preside over your deliberations and will be your spokesperson here in court. Any verdict you reach must represent the collective judgment of the jury. In order to return a verdict, it is necessary that each juror agree to it. In other words, any verdict you reach must be unanimous. It is your duty as jurors to consult with one another and to deliberate with one another with a view towards reaching an agreement if you can do so without violence to individual judgment. Each of you must decide the case for himself and herself, but do so only after an impartial consideration of the evidence in the case with your fellow jurors. In the course of your deliberations, do not hesitate to reexamine your own views and to change your opinion if convinced it is erroneous. However, do not surrender your honest conviction solely because of the opinion of your fellow jurors or for the mere purpose of returning a unanimous verdict. Remember at all times that you are not partisans. You are judges ­ judges of the facts of this case. Your sole interest is to seek the truth from the evidence received during the trial.

Case 1:00-cv-02098-REB-MJW

Document 252-14

Filed 09/14/2007

Page 2 of 2

Your verdict(s) must be based solely on the evidence received in the case. Nothing you have seen or read outside of court may be considered. Nothing that I have said or done during the course of this trial is intended, in any way, to suggest to you somehow what I think your verdicts should be. Nothing said in these instructions and nothing in any form of verdict, which has been prepared for your convenience, is to suggest or convey to you in any way or manner any intimation as to what verdict(s) I think you should return. What any verdict shall be is the exclusive duty and responsibility of the jury. As I have told you many times, you are the sole judges of the facts. Verdict forms have been prepared for your convenience. You will take the verdict forms to the jury room, and when you have reached unanimous agreement as to your verdict(s), you will have your foreperson write your verdict(s), date and sign, together with all other jurors, the verdict form(s), and then return with the verdict form(s) to the courtroom.

REB-14