Judges to add input on jury system

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002 | 8:51 a.m.

Clark County jurors want better pay, shorter hours and access to more information. On Thursday, local judges and attorneys will be asked to add to that list.

The Nevada Supreme Court's Jury Improvement Commission will conduct the second of three meetings at 1:30 p.m. in the jury orientation room at the Clark County Courthouse.

After input was obtained from jurors, it's time for judges and attorneys to offer their opinions of the system at the meeting Thursday.

Nevada Supreme Court Justice Bob Rose said he and other judicial officials developed the commission idea after attending a national jury summit last year in New York.

"The idea of the summit was to see what other jurisdictions have done in terms of evaluating and reforming their jury systems," Rose said.

Jurors from the Ted Binion and Ronald Rudin murder cases, as well as those from other trials, met in November and came up with a number of suggestions to improve the system, Rose said.

They suggested eliminating exemptions from jury duty, providing more information to jurors before jury selection and providing jurors with notebooks including trial exhibits.

Rose said doctors, attorneys, police officers and locomotive engineers are exempt from serving on juries.

Some of the jurors also said fewer people would try to escape jury duty if they knew about the case beforehand, Rose said.

Clark County Chief District Judge Mark Gibbons said he thought many of the ideas presented in November are valid. In fact, many states have considered passing a jury Bill of Rights, he said.

If he could change one thing about the system, Gibbons said, he would adjust the amount of time jurors spend outside the courtroom while attorneys argue about motions and the law. Many times, such things can be argued either in the morning or after the jury has gone home for the day.

Neither Gibbons nor Rose was surprised by the jurors' comments.

"Frankly, I was surprised there was relatively little criticism," Rose said. "They weren't terribly critical. Generally speaking, they supported our jury system and said their experience as jurors was positive."

Rose said a public hearing on jury improvements will be held sometime in March. A report will be prepared and presented to the Nevada Supreme Court.

"Hopefully, the Supreme Court will accept all of our recommendations," Rose said. "I think there will be a good chance that most, if not all, will be adopted."

Some of their ideas, such as increased juror pay and exemptions, will have to be brought to the attention of lawmakers, Rose said.