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Did you know that if you're selected as a juror in a medical malpractice case, in an
accident case, even a wrongful death case in New York the judge will tell you you are
not permitted to use text, tweets, Facebook or your iPhone during the course of trial?
Would you like to learn why? Come join me as I share with you this great information.
Hi. I'm Gerry Oginski. I'm a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial attorney
practicing law in the state of New York. Today I'm coming to you from Orlando, Florida and
I'm at a seminar and I have a few minutes to share with you this great information.
At the beginning of every case, the judge is going to tell you "Listen. You are not
to go online. You are not to do your own research. You are not to use your iPhone during the
trial to learn more information about what's going on during the trial." Why not? The reality
is that the judge does want you to get some outside influence that's now going to affect
you when you come to a decision or a conclusion about who's right and who's wrong. And I have
to share something with you. Every single judge in New York will give you that instruction.
But we know over the course of the past few years there have been jurors who have disregarded
those judicial instructions to their detriment. And what's happened is that the jurors would
then tweet during the middle of a trial. They'd be on Facebook on their iPhone in the middle
of a trial and then all of a sudden whatever the verdict they rendered ultimately becomes
overturned. Why? Because they disregard what the judge told them to do. Now let me share
something with you. This is my own personal opinion. In today's day and age, I honestly
believe that jurors should be allowed to go ahead and use their iPhone to text, to tweet
and use Facebook. And I'll tell you why and it's not for the reason you think. I think
we should allow jurors to use this why? To communicate with the attorneys and the judge.
Now remember, here's why I say that. During the course of trial, the jurors must sit quietly
and listen to all the testimony; listen to all the questions and answers. They must listen
to all the evidence that's being put in. Rarely do they have an opportunity to go and say
"Listen, Mr. Attorney, I didn't understand what that witness said. Could you explain?"
There are some judges in New York who will allow jurors to ask a question. But there's
a whole process to it. They raise their hand, they right down the question on a piece of
paper, it has to be submitted to the judge, the judge has to decide whether it's an appropriate
question and then make a determination to ask the witness or the attorneys a question.
I think a simpler way to do things is to allow jurors the ability to ask questions while
testimony is going on. This way the attorney's can find out what they're not asking. What
are we leaving out? What do the jurors really want to know so that now we can go ahead ask
the witness before they leave the key questions that the jurors really want to find out? And
obviously there are things that are inappropriate; the judge will prevent the attorneys from
asking the question. But this way it would allow the jurors to interact with the attorneys,
interact with the court, which would then give the jurors the answers to the questions
that are going on in their mind as they're listening to testimony. The reality is I don't
think this is ever going to come to fruition and certainly not for a good number of years.
So why do I share this great information with you? Well I share it with you for two reasons:
(1) just to teach you about what happens when you become a juror and (2) to give you my
ideas and my thoughts about what we probably should be doing to allow jurors to interact
with the attorneys to get a better understanding of the testimony and of the evidence being
presented. Well that's it for today's quick video and as always if you have legal questions,
what I encourage you to do is pick up the phone and call me. I can answer your legal
questions if your matter happened in New York. And if it didn't, I might be able to refer
you to a trusted attorney in the state where you are. Well as always, you can reach me
at 516-487-8207 or by email at Gerry@Oginski-law.com. That's it for today's quick video. I'm Gerry
Oginski, coming to you from Orlando, Florida. Have a wonderful day!