Crime Scene

WILMINGTON, DE – So far there’s been no word from jurors in the 26 hours since they began deliberating in the capital murder trial of James Cooke Jr., who is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Lindsey Bonistall from White Plains. 

But that isn’t entirely surprising considering how they conduct deliberations here. There is no readback of testimony (jurors took notes during the trial so they rely on those and their recollections)and the jury gets a written copy of the judge’s instructions. And while they spend most of their time in the jury room debating guilt or innocence – or more likely, in Cooke’s case, guilt or guilt with mental illness – jurors also have access to the courtroom where all the exhibits of evidence are available to them.

So there are never notes like: We want to see phone records a,b, or c or what did the judge mean by presumption of innocence or reasonable doubt. In fact, I’m not entirely sure what the jury has left to write notes about other than to let us know they have a verdict or can’t reach one. But I’m told they come up with things, just not yet in this trial

In New York, lengthy deliberations are usually the result of jurors asking the court reporter to read back testimony or parts of the judge’s instructions, in some trials multiple times. With testimony, first the reporter has to cull through the trial transcript and find the testimony requested, sometimes from different witnesses on a single subject; then the lawyers and judge have to decide if that’s exactly what the jury wanted; then the jury is brought in for the readback.

That procedure may be time consuming, but it makes some sense: they heard it once, an official record was made, so if they want to be sure, let them hear it again.

But not giving the  jury the instructions on the law, which every judge simply reads to them, is baffling.

New York criminal procedure law does not permit the practice, although there are extremely rare instances in which a jury got the written charge if they requested it and both the prosecution and the defense agreed they could have it.