Jury Will Be Sequestered In Zimmerman Trial
Ninfa Cappasola
\"The parties have, both sides have, stipulated that this trial will last between two and four weeks,\" Judge Debra Nelson said. \"Based upon that approximate stipulation, I will be sequestering the jury.\"
Jurors are rarely sequestered, isolated by the court away from their families and their homes, for a second degree murder trial. But suspicious testimony by potential jurors this week has triggered fear of a tainted jury pool.
When a jury is sequestered, the judge places them beyond the public reach. When this is ordered, the jury is typically housed in a hotel near the courthouse. The jurors are not permitted to watch television or read the news. They have only limited contact with their family and are under supervision around the clock.
To truly isolate a jury, you need to be able to control its members access to everything, including television, films, news sources, cell phones, etc. Jury members even have their mail monitored and are prohibited from discussing the trial with one another.
It is possible for jury sequestration to work if it is handled properly by the judge presiding over the case. For example, the jury in the George Zimmerman trial was sequestered for 22 days. However, they were allowed to go bowling, get manicures, see movies, and go shopping as a group. These outings helped the jurors keep their sanity, though they stopped once the time came for the jury to deliberate on a verdict.
So does jury sequestration work? It all depends on the jury members. Even in cases where the justice system treats them right, sequestration can begin to feel like a prison. It is possible, perhaps, that some jurors become more sympathetic to the men and women on trial, because they begin to understand what life will be like for the incarcerated. On the other hand, they may make rash decisions simply to get out of the experience themselves. This is why sequestering a jury is always a risk, and why it is a rarely-used option.
At Barry, Barall, Taylor & Levesque, LLC, we understand that a high-profile trial creates a lot of anxiety for jurors and defendants alike. Our criminal defense attorneys in Hartford and Manchester will review your case and help you fight the charges levied against you. We will also work hard to build a jury that can help resolve the trial in a favorable outcome for you. Call us today at 860-649-4400 or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation today.
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The eyes of the world will be on Baltimore next month as the first officer charged in Freddie Gray's death goes on trial. But how much contact should the jurors have with the outside world?
The officers charged in Gray's death lost their bid to move the trials from Baltimore. Now, as the first one looms---for Officer William Porter---his lawyers want the jury sequestered, isolated from the public, arguing in a new motion, "Additional precautions are necessary" and "There are measures we are taking to make sure CNN does not turn up at your door."
Nationally, trials with sequestered juries are some of the most famous: Casey Anthony, John Gotti and George Zimmerman. In his case, jurors ate steak dinners at Outback and had field trips to Ripley's Believe It or Not. It all cost taxpayers $33,000.
Gayle Barnes, a member of the sequestered jury that convicted former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, stands outside Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012 in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Sequestration is rare, and becoming less common, due to the expense and concerns about the impact on jury members.[3] In most trials that last more than a single day, jurors are instead sent home for the night with instructions to isolate themselves from inappropriate influence until they return and the trial resumes. Sequestration is most commonly used in high-profile trials in which media coverage and public conversations about the case may be so ubiquitous that it is difficult for jurors to avoid. A judge also may order that a jury be sequestered to prevent others from tampering with them through undue persuasion, threats, or bribes.[4] The trials of O.J. Simpson in 1995, George Zimmerman in 2013, Bill Cosby in 2017 were modern cases in which it was done, with the jury spending 265 days in sequestration in the Simpson case.[3][5]
In 2021, the jury in the Derek Chauvin murder trial was partially sequestered during the trial itself, and fully sequestered during deliberations. While the trial proceedings were ongoing, jurors were permitted to go home overnight, but parked in a secure location and were escorted between it and a private entrance to the courthouse. While the jurors were not monitored at home, the jurors were monitored at all times while in the courthouse, including during breaks and meals.[6] The jury was fully sequestered once deliberations began.[7]
"The judge in the George Zimmerman murder trial issued key rulings this morning, blocking the defense from putting on testimony about 17-year-old Trayvon Martin's text messages or using a computer animated recreation of the teen's shooting as evidence. The defense will be allowed to use the animation as a demonstrative aid, likely during closing arguments. But it will not go back with the jurors as evidence when they deliberate."
"On the other hand, it's a pretty good manslaughter case. And the jury will have the option, almost certainly, of convicting him of that. Because for manslaughter, all that has to be proved is that Mr. Zimmerman was reckless, that he's kind of a loose canon. And I think we've seen plenty of evidence of that."
Although it is rare, judges sometimes choose to sequester, or isolate, a jury in high-profile criminal trials. Basically, the jurors are kept away from other people and outside influences for the duration of the trial. In this article, we will explain jury sequestration and answer common questions about the process, including the advantages and disadvantages of sequestering a jury.
Despite the challenges, jury sequestration does have its benefits. It allows jurors to focus solely on the trial without having to worry about outside influences. This can be especially important in high-profile or complex cases where there is a lot of public interest and media coverage. Jury sequestration can also help prevent jury tampering and ensure that jury members do not feel pressure to conform to the majority opinion.
I can't imagine the horror of being part of a sequestered jury: being away from my family for weeks. No or limited phone, internet, tv, news access. To me this is equivilant to jailing an absolutely innocent person! I think this isolation is cruel. Also, it would place a burden on my husband--I cant imagine him trying to work and care for our two small children on his own for a long period of time. I also can't imagine going without my income for weeks. I work on commission, so I would simply be earning nothing if I was part of a sequestered jury.
I was prompted to think about this by an article in my paper today titled "Zimmerman jurors begin life in sequestration." A quote from the article: " One potential juror asked whether court sessions would be held several days a week during the trial since jurors weren't going to go home. Circuit judge Debra Nelson said, "No."
IF a sequestered jury were absolutely necessary, then lawyers need to get their acts together, and trials should last 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week, for 2 weeks max. And jurors should be fairly compensated and receive their normal salary for missing work, and the family back home should receive compensation used to pay for more childcare/domestic help.
If I was part of a sequestered jury, I would be so bitter about my situation I truly believe it would interfere with my making an unbiased decision in the trial verdict.
The identities of potential jurors in the Florida trial of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of murdering teenager Trayvon Martin, will be kept confidential, the presiding judge ruled Wednesday.
Zimmerman, 29, is charged with second-degree murder, but the jury will also be allowed to consider manslaughter. Under Florida's laws involving gun crimes, manslaughter could end up carrying a penalty as heavy as the one for second-degree murder: life in prison.
Zimmerman, now 29, who has lived in hiding since he was released on bail in June of last year, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming that he shot Martin in self-defense. He faces a potential sentence of life in prison if convicted. His trial is expected to last up to four weeks, during which jurors will be sequestered, due to the high-profile nature of the case.
If you are in a sequestered jury, can you go running? I mean, what if you're on some stupid trial like OJ or Zimmerman? You can't run for 6 months? Nice country, requires its citizens to become huge fatties.
Juror B37, along with her attorney husband, have backed away from a highly publicized book proposal about the controversial Zimmerman trial, which rendered Zimmerman "not guilty" for the death of teen Trayvon Martin. Now back with her family and "society in general," the juror released a statement saying she has realized the best direction to go in now is to return "to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury." The statement reads:
"I realize it was necessary for our jury to be sequestered in order to protest our verdict from unfair outside influence, but that isolation shielded me from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of this case. The potential book was always intended to be a respectful observation of the trial from my and my husband's perspectives solely and it was to be an observation that our 'system' of justice can get so complicated that it creates a conflict with our 'spirit' of justice. Now that I have returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury."
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