7 Things Lawyers Can't Tell Jurors

 It is a trial lawyer's job to educate jurors, and tell them what they need to know in order to decide cases. Despite this, there are many things, true things, that lawyers are not allowed to tell jurors directly in statements to the jury or indirectly through testimony of their witnesses. Lawyers know these things, though, and I thought you might like to know some of things.

#1. A lawyer can't tell the jurors anything that happened during settlement negotiations. He cannot let the jurors know, when asking them to make the defendant pay his client $100,000 that the defendant agreed to pay him $80,000 prior to the trial. The reason for this is that you want settlement negotiations to be very open. You don't want to damage a negotiation session because someone is afraid that what they say will get repeated to a jury if you don't strike a deal.

#2 In Idaho, a lawyer can't tell the jurors that the defendant has insurance. In many other states, he can. Because we are not in a trial right now, I can tell you, as members of the general public, that any defendant on trial in a personal injury case probably has insurance; if he didn't, the plaintiff would not waste his time in a trial, attempting to get a judgment against him that he cannot afford to pay. Idaho jurors are instructed that they cannot consider whether a defendant does or does not have insurance when they are deliberating.

Which brings me to the third point. A lawyer for the plaintiff can't tell the jury how rich the defendant is, and the defense attorney cannot tell the jury how poor his client is. If a lawyer does either of these things, the judge may order a mistrial. In one case I tried, the defense counsel made a statement in closing argument about the poverty of his client. After the jury gave a small award to the plaintiff, on my motion, the judge doubled verdict in favor of the plaintiff.

#4: A lawyer can't tell the jury that the defendant has been accused of crimes in the past. If the defendant has been convicted of a felony, or a misdemeanor that is relevant to whether he is telling the truth, that evidence can be introduced it if it happened less than 10 years ago. That felony fraud conviction against the defendant from 10.5 years ago? That's gone and the plaintiff can't use it against him. It the defendant was convicted felony fraud 3 years ago, but the charge was dismissed after he successfully completed probation, the plaintiff's lawyer can't tell the jury about that,either. Telling the jury about a party's dismissed criminal charge is almost a guaranteed mistrial.

#5 Is the golden rule. The golden rule of trial advocacy is that a lawyer cannot ask the jurors to place themselves in the position of his client. Oh, your lawyer would like to ask the jurors in closing argument, 'how would you feel if you had one big, constant headache that lasted for one month.' Would you think it was fair for the defendant to pay you $10,000 for that headache and then walk away from any further consequence?' Nope, your lawyer can't say that. He can give the jurors information during the trial that makes them understand how much the plaintiff did suffer, but he cannot actually tell the jurors to put themselves in his client's place. If he does that, the other lawyer will jump up and say "golden rule" and the judge will sustain his objection and instruct the jurors to disregard what the lawyer just said.

#6. The plaintiff's lawyer can't ask the jurors to punish the defendant. That kind of things is only allowed in the rare case in which your lawyer is allowed to ask for punitive damages, and the judge has to give him permission to do that well in advance of trial, if there are facts on the record that show the defendant acted maliciously or with reckless disregard he was probably going to hurt someone. The lawyer can ask the jury to calculate the financial and non-economic losses, but punishment cannot enter the equation.

Which brings us to #7: A lawyer cannot tell the jury the court will limit any award of non-economic, or "pain and suffering," damages if your award exceeds the statutory cap on non-economic damages. In Idaho , as in many other states, we have "tort reform" which limits the amount of pain and suffering damages an injured plaintiff can collect and you can't tell the jurors the judge will reduce their award of damages if the non economic portion of the award exceeds $325,000.

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Allen Browning is an attorney in Idaho Falls, Idaho who handles personal injury and criminal defense. He has over 30 years of experience and handled thousands of cases. Allen handles cases from all over Idaho. Call (208) 542-2700 to set up a free consultation if you are facing legal trouble or you have been involved in an accident.

Also, check out browninglaw.net for more information about Allen and Browning Law.

Allen Browning can help with all personal injury claims including motor vehicle accidents,truck accidents, auto accidents, serious and disabling accidents, and wrongful death claims.
Allen Browning is an Idaho Falls attorney who can also help with drunk driving (DUI), traffic violations, Felony, Misdemeanor, Domestic Violence, Drug Crimes, Theft, Juvenile Crimes, battery and assault charges, Violent Crimes, and Probation/Parole Violations. He is one of the most experienced and successful criminal defense attorneys in Idaho.

Allen is able to provide his services if the incident occurs in the following Idaho Areas: American Falls, Arco, Blackfoot, Boise, Burley, Driggs, Idaho Falls, Malad City, Pocatello, Rexburg, Rigby, Salmon, St. Anthony, Twin Falls, Bannock County, Bingham County, Bonneville County, Butte County, Cassia County, Clark County, Fremont County, Jefferson County, Lemhi County, Madison County, Oneida County, Power County, Teton County, and Twin Falls County.