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Jurors are not legal experts. They do not know the rules of evidence or the rules of questioning. Therefore they cannot ask questions directly. Jurors are required to decide, based on the evidence presented to them by prosecutors or defence.

Jurors, you have the most important role in this trial, because you are the ones who must decide who and what to believe, and answer each of the questions that I have discussed with you. You must decide this case based only on the evidence presented at the trial. You may not decide this case based on anything else.

A party who objects to an instruction or the failure to give an instruction must do so on the record, stating distinctly the matter objected to and the grounds for the objection.

Although only one state expressly prohibits this practice, in most jurisdictions whether members of a jury are allowed to take notes will depend upon the discretion of the judge.

For jury instructions to be effective, they must be clear and simple. Sentences should be short; instruc- • tions should contain no more than a few sentences, cover only one topic, and be directly related to the circumstances of the case (they should not be abstract statements of the law).

By law, the courts will excuse from jury duty anyone with a mental or physical condition that would keep them from serving as a juror. There is not an exemption based on age, but you may request to be excused if you have a hardship that would make it difficult to serve.

The answer is simple: The law doesn't allow it. The lengthy instructions, which the judge read to jurors right before they started deliberating, are meant to serve as a road map and to help them apply the relevant law to the facts as they have found them.

Either before or after the closing arguments by the lawyers, the judge will explain the law that applies to the case to you. This is the judge's instruction to the jury. You have to apply that law to the facts, as you have heard them, in arriving at your verdict.

For jury instructions to be effective, they must be clear and simple. Sentences should be short; instruc- ? tions should contain no more than a few sentences, cover only one topic, and be directly related to the circumstances of the case (they should not be abstract statements of the law).