CACI 5011 Reading Back of Trial Testimony in Jury Room
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
5011 Reading Back of Trial Testimony in Jury Room
You may request in writing that trial testimony be read to you. I will have the court reporter read the testimony to you. You may request that all or a part of a witness’s testimony be read.
Your request should be as specific as possible. It will be helpful if you can state:
1.The name of the witness;
2.The subject of the testimony you would like to have read; and
3.The name of the attorney or attorneys asking the questions when the testimony was given.
The court reporter is not permitted to talk with you when she or he is reading the testimony you have requested.
While the court reporter is reading the testimony, you may not deliberate or discuss the case.
You may not ask the court reporter to read testimony that was not specifically mentioned in a written request. If your notes differ from the testimony, you must accept the court reporter’s record as accurate.
New April 2004; Revised February 2005
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Directions for Use
The read-back should not be conducted in the jury room unless the attorneys stipulate to that location.
Sources and Authority
•Jury Request for Additional Information During Deliberations. Code of Civil Procedure section 614.
•“Section 614 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that if there is a disagreement among jurors during their deliberations as to any part of the testimony which they have heard they may return into court and secure from the court in the presence of counsel for all parties the desired information as to the record. If they ask for testimony relating to a specified subject, they are entitled to hear all of it. However, it is equally clear that the trial judge does not have to order read any part of the record which is not thus requested by the jury foreman.” (McGuire v. W. A. Thompson Distributing Co. (1963) 215 Cal.App.2d 356, 365–366 [30 Cal.Rptr. 113], internal citations omitted.)
•“When the jury requests a repetition of certain testimony, the trial court is not required to furnish the jury with testimony not requested.” (Allen v. Toledo (1980) 109 Cal.App.3d 415, 422 [167 Cal.Rptr. 270], internal citations omitted.)
•“Appellants assign as error the court’s refusal to comply with their counsel’s request for testimony reading. It was not. It is not the party to whom the law gives the right to select testimony to be read. And the law does not make the party or his attorney the arbiter to determine the jury’s wishes.” (Asplund v. Driskell (1964) 225 Cal.App.2d 705, 714 [37 Cal.Rptr. 652], original italics.)