Home Table of Contents

WPIC 1.04 Jurors' Duty to Consult With One Another

11 WAPRAC WPIC 1.04Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal

11 Wash. Prac., Pattern Jury Instr. Crim. WPIC 1.04 (5th Ed)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal
January 2024 Update
Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions
Part I. General Instructions
WPIC CHAPTER 1. Introductory Instructions
WPIC 1.04 Jurors' Duty to Consult With One Another
As jurors, you have a duty to discuss the case with one another and to deliberate in an effort to reach a unanimous verdict. Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but only after you consider the evidence impartially with your fellow jurors. During your deliberations, you should not hesitate to re-examine your own views and to change your opinion based upon further review of the evidence and these instructions. You should not, however, surrender your honest belief about the value or significance of evidence solely because of the opinions of your fellow jurors. Nor should you change your mind just for the purpose of reaching a verdict.
NOTE ON USE
This instruction is recommended as a part of the court's instructions in every case. Use of this instruction after the jury has begun to deliberate is prohibited. See WPIC 4.81 (Deadlocked Jury).
COMMENT
This instruction was first introduced as a simplified alternative instruction (former WPIC 1.04A) in the 1986 supplement to the first edition. For the main volume, this simplified alternative was adopted as the primary instruction (WPIC 1.04).
WPIC 1.04, as it appeared in the first WPIC edition, is cited with approval in State v. Watkins, 99 Wn.2d 166, 660 P.2d 1117 (1983), State v. Whiteman, 23 Wn.App. 353, 597 P.2d 398 (1979), and State v. Faucett, 22 Wn.App. 869, 593 P.2d 559 (1979). Watkins supports the committee's recommendation that WPIC 1.04 be given in every case before the jury retires.
After the jury has begun deliberating, CrR 6.15(f)(2) prohibits the giving of instructions that suggest the need for agreement, discuss the consequences of no agreement, or refer to the length of time a jury will be required to deliberate. For further discussion see the Comment accompanying WPIC 4.81 (Deadlocked Jury).
[Current as of May 2019.]
End of Document