Opinion ID: 884478
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Third-Floor Jury Room

Text: Gallatin County proposed locating a new Department II jury room on the third floor of the Center. Judge Wilson implicitly found this proposal unsuitable in that [t]o herd a jury to the third floor presents security problems, is time consuming, creates a problem for mixing with the general customers of the courthouse. It should be noted that the Clerk of Court's office is located on the third floor and this is a well-trafficked office in the courthouse.... Again, the record is replete with evidence supporting Judge Wilson's findings regarding the unsuitability of the third-floor room proposed by Gallatin County as Department II's jury room. Judge Moran's and Orenstein's testimony, as well as exhibits admitted into evidence, reflect that jurors traveling from Department II's courtroom on the second floor to the proposed jury room on the third floor would have to either take the stairs or proceed down a hallway used by the public, witnesses and attorneys to get to the elevator. Upon arriving on the third floor, jurors would have to walk down another similar hallway to get to the jury room. Moreover, Judge Moran testified that the elevator is relatively small and, as a result, it is possible that two trips would be required to transport all of the jurors to the third floor. Judge Moran further testified that locating Department II's jury room on the third floor would be unsuitable because it would expose the jury to too much contamination, too much potential for hearing extraneous matters and would waste time. In this regard, he generally likes to recess court proceedings every hour to allow jurors to have a ten-minute break to use the rest room facilities, refill their coffee or just get up and stretch. For some jurors, traveling to the third floor and back to the second floor potentially could take as long as ten minutes. Judge Moran was concerned that, as a result, he would have to allow jurors twenty to thirty minutes for breaks so that they could have ten minutes in the jury room; he testified that he cannot conduct a trial with those kind of lengthy delays. Similarly, requiring a jury to return to the third floor so that motions could be argued out of the presence of the jury would waste time. Judge Moran also pointed out that jurors are often elderly or handicapped and requiring such jurors to travel to the third floor and back would be burdensome. Judge Gary agreed that requiring jurors to go to the third floor during recesses would be inefficient and waste time. He noted that such a procedure could require several bailiffs because some jurors would take the stairs, while older or handicapped jurors need to take the elevator. Moreover, Judge Gary was concerned with the potential for jurors to easily mingle with the public; he noted that the Center is a very busy place and that the Clerk of the District Court's office also is on the third floor. Orenstein testified that locating Department II's jury room on the third floor would be unsuitable and nonproductive. She was especially concerned that, with the number of elderly jurors who serve on Department II juries, traveling to the third floor repeatedly would be burdensome. She stated that, because Department II does not have a designated bailiff, she is responsible for escorting jurors to and from the jury room and monitoring the jury, and that locating the jury room on the third floor would make it impossible for her to properly perform that task. As a result, she was concerned with the increased potential for jurors to interact with the public. The Honorable John W. Larson, a district court judge in the Fourth Judicial District, testified by deposition regarding his concerns about locating a jury room on a different floor than the courtroom. In his opinion, making jurors go to a different floor causes difficulties for handicapped jurors and is inefficient. He also expressed concern about security issues, particularly the increased likelihood that jurors would mingle with the public. The Honorable Dorothy McCarter, a district court judge in the First Judicial District, testified to the same effect. We conclude that substantial credible evidence supports Judge Wilson's implicit finding that a jury room on the third floor would be unsuitable for Department II and the finding is not otherwise clearly erroneous.