Abstract

The article analyzes data reported in the National Center for State Courts 2006 survey of civil and criminal jury trial practice. The focus is on New York's use of various techniques to improve jury participation compared to use by nearby states, Connecticut and New Jersey, and other state courts. Innovative techniques discussed include juror notebooks, note-taking, juror questions of witnesses, and jury instructions. The article concludes that New York's courts lag behind other state courts in adopting these practices, and that both success in practice and ABA recommendations should be persuasive to New York judges that improvements can be made in jury trials without sacrificing fairness.

This abstract has been compiled from the body of the article.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2006

Publication Information

78 New York State Bar Journal 19-22 (Oct. 2006)

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