Bill would allow note taking by jurors

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BY JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star

Those note-taking skills you learned in school might come in handy the next time your name hits the jury duty list.

The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee heard testimony Wednesday on a bill introduced by Sen. Carroll Burling of Kenesaw that would allow jurors to take notes during the trial and use them later in deliberations.

Burling heard the proposal might be controversial. And it is.

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Nebraska jurors can only take notes now if the judge and attorneys on both sides agree. Most of the time, one side or the other says no.

Burling said allowing note taking is better than relying on your memory.

It’s an issue “near and dear” to Hastings attorney Bob Parker, who asked Burling to sponsor the bill. Parker handles civil suits and criminal cases.

Defense attorneys are more apt to disallow note taking, he said, because they offer their cases to jurors after prosecutors and know people tend to remember what they heard most recently. As a defense attorney, he has taken advantage of the current law himself, saying no to note taking.

But he knows that in days of trial, with dozens of witnesses, and asking jurors to make weighty decisions, notes would be helpful, he said, and would further justice.

Members of the Nebraska Association of Trial Lawyers support the idea.

Former Lancaster County Judge Janice Gradwohl, who has studied these things, said people become much more capable jurors if they are allowed to take notes. It is routinely permitted in federal courts.

“There simply is not a good reason not to allow jurors to take notes,” she said. “If we’re going to trust jurors to make the awesome decisions they make, we should give them the tools to make fair and equitable decisions.“

But Lincoln trial attorney Jim Snowden begged to differ.

He’s not against note taking in general, he said. But one thing he wants from jurors is their undivided attention. Body language and expressions of witnesses are important to watch. Notes can be inaccurate and can unduly empower the jurors who have notes.

The Nebraska State Bar Association’s legislative committee voted to oppose the bill, said Bill Mueller, who represents the group.

The Nebraska Supreme Court, in addressing the issue, has said jurors lack the legal training to distinguish legally relevant elements of a trial and many lack note taking skills that develop with practice.

An unskilled note taker is apt to miss what is said, and other jurors could perceive note takers as being more alert and regard them as more informed.

Burling’s bill would make notes confidential to the jury and the notes would be destroyed immediately upon the return of a verdict.

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.