MontanaJury Nullification
In Montana a statute says all questions of law must be decided by the court, and it names one exception found in the state constitution. That exception gives the jury the law and the facts in libel and slander cases, under the direction of the court. Other questions of fact go to the jury. The constitution says that in all criminal actions the verdict shall be unanimous.
Overview
Juries in Montana
Montana's statute says all questions of law must be decided by the court, and it opens by pointing at an exception in the state constitution. A second statute sends the other questions of fact to the jury. The constitution says that in all criminal actions the verdict shall be unanimous.
The exception is the constitution's section on speech. In suits and prosecutions for libel or slander, the jury, under the direction of the court, shall determine the law and the facts. What that section covers, and what the chapter does and does not say about it, is in the Montana chapter of the guide.
Montana's pattern instructions tell jurors that all twelve of them must agree to reach a verdict. The constitution also says when a case can be tried before fewer jurors than the law provides. How that works is in the chapter.
The Montana chapter
What's in the Guide for Montana?
Jury selection
When a Montana case can be tried without a jury or before fewer jurors than the law provides, and the two limits state law puts on how a jury weighs the evidence.
What the judge tells you
What the Montana pattern instructions say about the evidence and the law as the judge states it, how the judge gives the instructions out loud and in writing, and what jurors may not look into on their own.
How the verdict works
What all twelve agreeing means in a Montana jury room, and what the instructions say about giving up an honest opinion to the majority, to reach a verdict, or to avoid a mistrial.
Protections and risks
How Montana's law on improper influence reaches jurors, what it says about private arguments made to a juror, and what it says about a juror receiving messages about the case outside the trial.
The law in plain English
The Montana laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the statutes on questions of law, on questions of fact and on weighing evidence, the law on threats and improper influence, the evidence rule on facts the court takes as known, and three sections of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to Montana's official sources, each one checked. They cover the Montana Code and constitution on the legislature's site, the Judicial Branch's rules, the criminal jury instructions from the commission the Supreme Court appoints, and the Judicial Branch's Juror Information page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Montana?
A Montana jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to decide the questions of fact in a case. The questions of law go to the judge.
The Montana Judicial Branch has a Juror Information page. It covers the notice and the summons, whether you have to appear, how to ask to be excused, and what jurors are paid.
That page covers the summons. What the statute and the constitution each say about the law and the facts, what the instructions ask of twelve jurors, and how Montana law treats a juror as a public servant are covered in the Montana chapter of the guide.
Your Montana summons
- Sent byThe court that summoned you
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, decide the questions of fact in a case
- Jury size12; fewer if the parties agree with the court's approval