THE HAWAI`I COMMITTEE ON JURY INNOVATIONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Chief Justice Ronald T.Y. Moon convened the Committee in June, 1998, to study and obtain information about jury trial innovations considered or adopted by other states that might be used in jury trials (both civil and criminal) in Hawai`i. The Committee is co-chaired by James A. Kawachika, Esq., President of the Hawaii State Bar Association, and Judge Shackley F. Raffetto, Administrative Judge of the Second Circuit. Members of the Committee include former jurors, members of both houses of the Legislature, lawyers, and judges. Additionally, a pilot project in jury innovations has been authorized by the Supreme Court for jury trials during a fifteen week period beginning July 1, 1998. The participating judges (Judges Weil, Milks, Town, Perkins, Soong, and Raffetto) have been authorized to implement the following innovations in order to gather data about the effectiveness and desirability of the innovations:

1. Voir Dire shall be referred to as Jury Selection.

2. At the discretion of the participating judge in civil and criminal cases, a brief opening statement may be presented to the entire jury panel, prior to beginning jury selection.

3. At the discretion of the participating judge, all experts may be scheduled to testify at the same time in civil cases.

4. Upon agreement of the parties in criminal cases, jurors may be pre-instructed on the elements of the charged offenses/defenses.

5. At the discretion of the participating judge in civil cases, jurors may be pre-instructed on the elements of pleaded causes of action/defenses.

6. At the discretion of the participating judge, jurors may be allowed to discuss the evidence in civil trials before the end of the presentation of evidence.

7. The participating judge may allow jurors to take notes during trial. If the participating judge allows note taking, the participating judge shall give an explanatory and cautionary instruction (e.g., "Those wishing to take notes may do so, but no juror is required to take notes. Note taking should not distract you from court activity, like watching witnesses testify. In case of conflict, notes should not take the place of independent memory.").

8. The participating judge shall allow jurors to ask questions in civil and criminal cases, provided that the questions shall be screened by the participating judge and subject to objection by the attorneys. The participating judge may ask the question over objection after allowing objections to be placed on the record by the attorneys. In cases in which jurors are allowed to ask questions, the participating judge shall instruct the jury about the process to be followed.

9. The participating judge shall instruct the jury on the law before closing arguments and shall give copies of the instructions to the jurors to follow along as the instructions are read, except that Hawaii Standard Jury Instructions Criminal 8.02 (Unanimous Verdict); 8.03 (Conduct of Deliberations); and 8.04 (Form of Verdicts) shall be given after closing arguments.

10. The participating judge shall ask jurors to complete an exit questionnaire and send the responses to the Committee.

11. The participating judge shall send thank you letters to all jurors. The letters shall solicit recommendations for improvement of the jury experience.

Each year about 63,000 of Hawaii's citizens are summoned for jury service. Former jurors represent a rich database of experience, ideas, and suggestions of which the Committee would like to have the benefit in order to complete its work. The Committee hosted three lunch-hour sessions on the subject of jury innovations at the Judiciary History Center's historic 1913 courtroom on the first floor of the Supreme Court building; approximately thirty citizens attended, asked questions, and made suggestions for more effective and efficient jury service.

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