A Conference out of the Juror's Hearing

Occasionally the lawyers may confer with the judge out of the hearing of the jury. The judge may excuse the jury from the room, so that a point of law or an objection can be argued. In either case, the jury should not feel slighted or try to guess what is being said. You should not feel resentment toward the attorney who requests that the jury be excused. Conferences are often held at the bench to avoid the inconvenience of having the jury members file in and out of the courtroom.

Important: The information on this website is not intended to take the place of the instructions given by the judge in any case.  Should you see a conflict, the trial judge's instructions will prevail.

Note: The pronouns, he, him, his, refer to both the male and female gender.