HawaiiJury Nullification
In Hawaii the judge instructs the jury on the law and the jury judges the facts. The closing instruction tells jurors to follow the instructions even if they disagree with them. The state constitution sets a jury of twelve where the crime charged is serious. A court rule requires a unanimous verdict unless the parties agree otherwise.
Overview
Juries in Hawaii
Hawaii's pattern instructions set out the split twice, once after the jury is sworn and again when the evidence is finished. The judge instructs on the law and the jurors are the judges of the facts. The closing instruction says jurors must follow the instructions even if they disagree with them.
Hawaii's verdict rule requires a unanimous verdict, with one written exception. What the exception is, and how the jury is polled before a verdict is recorded, is in the Hawaii chapter of the guide.
The Hawaii constitution says a jury has twelve people where the crime charged is serious. What else that section gives a person accused of a crime is in the chapter.
The Hawaii chapter
What's in the Guide for Hawaii?
Jury selection
In Hawaii the words that bind a juror come after the oath, not during questioning. The chapter explains what the judge reads at that moment and where it falls in the trial.
What the judge tells you
What the opening and closing Hawaii instructions say about the law, about disagreeing with it, and about what to do when a lawyer says something different from the judge.
How the verdict works
What the unanimous verdict rule asks of a Hawaii jury, how a poll works, and what happens when jurors agree on some charges or defendants but not others.
Protections and risks
What Hawaii's bribery law says about offering a juror a benefit and about a juror accepting one, and what the instructions say about holding to your own judgment in the jury room.
The law in plain English
The Hawaii laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the section of the constitution on the rights of the accused, the law on bribery of or by a juror, and the court rule on verdicts and polling.
Official state resources
Links to Hawaii's official sources, each one checked. They cover the statutes and constitution on the legislature's site, the Judiciary's rules of penal procedure and pattern criminal jury instructions, and the Judiciary's Jury Service page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Hawaii?
A Hawaii jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to judge the facts of a case. The judge will instruct you on the law once you have been sworn.
The Hawaii State Judiciary has a Jury Service page. It covers reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
That page covers the practical side. What the judge reads after the oath, what the closing instruction says about disagreeing with the law, and how a verdict is polled are covered in the Hawaii chapter of the guide.
Your Hawaii summons
- Sent byThe circuit court of your island
- Names come fromVoter registration and driver's license lists
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, judge the facts of a case
- Jury size12 where the crime charged is serious