DISCUSSION: This question is tricky unless you consider exactly what judges are asking jurors to do. The judges are assuming that jurors did learn relevant information, pre-trial. They’re even likely assuming that jurors formed opinions about that information.
Judges aren’t asking jurors to forget what they learned. They’re asking jurors to ignore these things when making a decision.
This isn’t realistic. It’s very hard to ignore information when making a decision. Our brains aren’t designed to do that.
___________
- CORRECT. Very few people can separate their knowledge when making a decision. Our brains don’t work that way.
- This is easy enough to do. Everyone can tell the difference between what they read in the newspaper from what they heard in court.
The hard part is ignoring what you read in the newspaper when you make your decision. - No one is expecting jurors not to form an opinion. The judge is asking them to ignore the opinion that they did form. This is hard.
- This is something a juror might have to do for a voir dire, during jury selection. When the judge is giving specific instructions, the juror is already on the jury.
- When the judge gives specific instructions, the trial has already begun. The specific instructions only relate to pre-trial information the jurors already acquired.
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