60-248. Jury trial procedure.
60-248
60-248. Jury trial procedure.(a) Stipulation as to number. The parties may stipulate that the juryshall consist of any number less than 12 or, subject to the provisionsof subsection (g), that a verdict or a finding of a stated majority of thejurors shall be taken as the verdict or finding of the jury.
(b) View of property or place. Whenever in the opinion of the courtit is proper for the jury to have a view of property which is the subjectof litigation or of the place in which any material fact occurred, the court mayorder the jury to be conducted, as a body, under the charge ofan officer to theplace, which shall be shown to them by a person or persons appointedby the court for that purpose. While the jury is thus absent, no person otherthan the person so appointed shall speak to any juror on any subject connectedwith the trial. A view permitted under this subsectionshall not be considered by thecourt in determining any questions of the sufficiency or insufficiency ofevidence admitted in an action.
(c) Case submitted, action and conduct of jury. When the case is finallysubmitted to the jury, it shall retire for deliberation. The jurors mustbe kept together in a convenient place under charge of an officer untilthey agree upon a verdict, or are discharged by the court, subject to thediscretion of the court to permit them to separate temporarily at nightand at their meals. The officer having them under theofficer's charge shallnot make or allow any communications to be made to them, except theofficer may ask them if they are agreedupon their verdict, unlessby order of the court. The officer shall not before the verdict isrendered communicate to any person the state of their deliberations orthe verdict agreed upon.
(d) Separation of jury, admonition of court. If the jurors are permittedto separate, either during the trial or after the case is submitted to them,they shall be admonished by the court that it is their duty not to conversewith, or allow themselves to be addressed by, any other person on any subjectof the trial; that it is their duty to keep an open mind and not toexpress an opinion on the subject of the trial until thecase is finally submitted to them;and that the admonition applies to everyseparation of the jurors.
(e) Jury may request information after retiring. If, after thejury has retired for deliberation, it desires further information as toany part of the law or evidence pertaining to the case, it may communicateits request through the bailiff to the court in the manner directedby the court, following which the court, after notice to counsel for theparties, may consider and make such provision for a response to the requestof the jury as the court finds to be required under the circumstances.
(f) Discharge of jury, when. The jury may be discharged by the courton account of the sickness of a juror, or other necessity to be found bythe court or by consent of both parties, or after it has been kept togetheruntil it satisfactorily appears that there is no probability of the jurorsreaching a verdict.
(g) Verdict; number of jurors required; form; correction. Wheneverthe jury consists of 12 members, theagreement of 10 jurorsshall be sufficient to render a verdict. In all other cases, subject tothe stipulation of the parties as provided in subsection (a), the verdictshall be by agreement of all the jurors. The verdict shall be written, signedby the presiding juror and read by the clerk to the jury,and the inquiry madewhether it is their verdict. If less than the required number of jurorsagree, the jury must be sent out again. If agreementof the requirednumber is expressed, and no party requires the jurors to bepolled individually,the verdict is complete, and the jury discharged from the case. If theverdict is defective in form only, it may be corrected by the court,with the assent ofthe jury, before it is discharged.
(h) Alternate jurors. Immediately after the jury is empaneled andsworn, the trial judge may empanel one or more alternate or additional jurorswhenever, in the judge's discretion, the judge believes it advisable tohave alternate jurors available to replace jurors who, prior to the timethe jury retires to consider its verdict, become or are found to be unableto perform their duties. Alternate jurors shall be selected in the samemanner, have the same qualifications, be subject to the same examinationand challenges, take the same oath and have the same functions, powersand privileges as the regular jurors. Each party shall be entitled to oneperemptory challenge to the alternate jurors.The alternate jurorsshall be seated near the other jurors, withequal power and facilities for seeing and hearing the proceedings in thecase, and they must attend the trial of the cause at all timeswith the other jurors. The alternate jurors shall obey theorders of and be bound by theadmonition of the court upon each adjournment, but if the regular jurorsare ordered to be kept in custody during the trial of the cause,the alternatejurors also shall be kept in confinement with the other jurors. Upon finalsubmission of the case to the jury, the alternate jurors may be dischargedor they may be retained separately and not discharged until the final decisionof the jury. If the alternate jurors are not discharged on final submissionof the case and if any regular juror is discharged prior to thejury's reachinga decision, the court may draw the name of an alternate juror who shall replacethe discharged juror and be subject to the same rules and regulations asthough the juror had been selected as one of the original jurors.
History: L. 1963, ch. 303, 60-248; L. 1971, ch.176, § 16; L. 1973, ch. 232, § 1; amended by Supreme Court orderdated July 28, 1976;L. 1978, ch. 226, § 1;L. 1984, ch. 112, § 24; July 1.