New MexicoJury Nullification
In New Mexico a uniform jury instruction says the law of the case is in the judge's instructions and that it is the jury's duty to follow it. Jurors are told to take the instructions as a whole. A court rule says the verdict shall be unanimous and signed by the foreman. The state constitution keeps the right of trial by jury as it existed before and allows juries of six in lower courts.
Overview
Juries in New Mexico
New Mexico's uniform instruction on the duty to follow instructions is five sentences long. It says the law governing the case is in the judge's instructions, and that it is the jury's duty to follow that law. A court rule says the verdict shall be unanimous and signed by the foreman.
The same instruction tells jurors how to read the instructions as a set, and what they take with them when deliberations start. A second instruction tells them what not to think about at all. What both say is in the New Mexico chapter of the guide.
The New Mexico constitution keeps the right of trial by jury as it has heretofore existed. It allows a jury of six in courts below the district court, and lets the legislature allow civil verdicts that are not unanimous. What else it says is in the chapter.
The New Mexico chapter
What's in the Guide for New Mexico?
Jury selection
Where in a New Mexico trial the duty to follow the instructions is read, what goes into the jury room with the jurors, and how a trial can end without a verdict.
What the judge tells you
What New Mexico's uniform instruction says about the law in the judge's instructions and about picking out one instruction over another, and what a second instruction says about the results of a verdict.
How the verdict works
How a unanimous New Mexico verdict is signed and returned, how a jury is polled, and how the court asks about each degree of an offense when jurors have not agreed.
Protections and risks
What New Mexico's jury tampering law says about pressure on a trial juror, and what it says about interfering with how jurors' names are drawn.
The law in plain English
The New Mexico laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the jury tampering law, the court rule on returning a verdict, on mistrials and on discharging jurors, and the jury section of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to New Mexico's official sources, each one checked. They cover the statutes, constitution, court rules and uniform jury instructions on the state's official publication site, and the New Mexico Courts' Jury Duty page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in New Mexico?
A New Mexico jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to decide a case under the law in the judge's instructions.
The New Mexico Courts have a Jury Duty page. It covers reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
That page covers serving. What the uniform instruction asks of you, how a verdict is signed, returned and polled, and what the tampering law says about pressure on a juror are covered in the New Mexico chapter of the guide.
Your New Mexico summons
- Sent byThe court that drew your name
- Names come fromLicensed drivers, income tax filers and registered voters
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, decide a case under the law in the judge's instructions
- Jury size12 (District Court), 6 (Magistrate Court)