Court Opinion

ID: 9678375
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:18:14.881111+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:03.970252
License: Public Domain

BAIRD, Judge,
concurring on Appellant’s Petition for Discretionary Review.
In Price v. State, 887 S.W.2d 949 (Tex.Cr.App., delivered this day), we held there is no abuse of discretion in a permitting juror note-taking as long as the trial judge takes the following four cautionary steps.1 First, determine if juror note-taking would be beneficial in light of the factual and legal issues to be presented at the trial. Second, the trial judge should inform the parties, prior to voir dire, if the jurors will be permitted to take notes. Third, the trial judge should admonish the jury, at the time it is impaneled, on note-taking. The following admonition, or one substantially similar, should be given:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury:
Because of the potential usefulness of taking notes, you may take notes during the presentation of evidence in this case. However, you may not take notes during the arguments of the lawyers, or when the jury charge is read to you.
Moreover, to ensure a completely fair and impartial trial, I will instruct you to observe the following limitations:
1. Note taking is permitted, but not required. Each of you may take notes. However, no one is required to take notes.
2. Take notes sparingly. Do not try to summarize all of the testimony. Notes are for the purpose of refreshing memory. They are particularly helpful when dealing with measurements, times, distances, identities, and relationships.
3. Be brief. Overindulgence in note taking may be distracting. You, the jurors, must pass on the credibility of witnesses; hence,, you must observe the demeanor and appearance of each person on the witness stand to assist you in passing on his or her credibility. Note taking must not distract you from that task. If you wish to make a note, you need not sacrifice the opportunity to make important observations. You may make your note after having made the observation itself. Keep in mind that when you ultimately make a decision in a case you will *960rely principally upon your eyes, your ears, and your mind, not upon your fingers.
4. Do not take your notes away from court. At the end of each day, please place your notes in the envelope which has been provided to you. A court officer will be directed to take the envelopes to a safe place and return them at the beginning of the next session on this case, unopened.
5. Your notes are for your own private use only. It is improper for you to share your notes with any other juror during any phase of the trial other than jury deliberations. You may, however, discuss the contents of your notes during your deliberations.
Fourth, the trial judge should provide the following instruction, or one substantially similar, in the jury charge at each phase of the trial:
You have been permitted to take notes during the testimony in this case. In the event any of you took notes, you may rely on your notes during your deliberations. However, you may not share your notes with the other jurors and you should not permit the other jurors to share their notes with you. You may, however, discuss the contents of your notes with the other jurors. You shall not use your notes as authority to persuade your fellow jurors. In your deliberations, give no more and no less weight to the views of a fellow juror just because that juror did or did not take notes. Your notes are not official transcripts. They are personal memory aids, just like the notes of the judge and the notes of the lawyers. Notes are valuable as a stimulant to your memory. On the other hand, you might make an error in observing or you might make a mistake in recording what you have seen or heard. Therefore, you are not to use your notes as authority to persuade fellow jurors of what the evidence was during the trial.
Occasionally, during jury deliberations, a dispute arises as to the testimony presented. If this should occur in this case, you shall inform the Court and request that the Court read the portion of disputed testimony to you from the official transcript. You shall not rely on your notes to resolve the dispute because those notes, if any, are not official transcripts. The dispute must be settled by the official transcript, for it is the official transcript, rather than any juror’s notes, upon which you must base your determination of the facts and, ultimately, your verdict in this case.
In relation to the first step, the record does not reveal whether the trial judge informed the parties that jury note taking would be permitted.2 Clearly, the record supports the conclusion that the trial judge determined note-taking would benefit the jury. Moreover, the trial judge admonished the jury on the proper use of any notes taken at the time it was impaneled. Further, the trial judge instructed the jury on the proper use of the jury’s notes in the jury charge. For these reasons, I believe the actions of the trial judge substantially complied with the four cautionary steps established today in Price, supra. Accordingly, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion by allowing the jury to take notes and use those notes during deliberations.
With these comments, I join the majority opinion.
MILLER, J., joins this opinion.

. We paused to note that trial judges who did not permit juror note-taking would eliminate appellate review of the matter and probably save many hours of trial and appellate court time. Price, 887 S.W.2d at 954, n. 10.

. Although the record is silent on this point, appellant does not contend the trial judge's action was a surprise or compromised the effectiveness of his representation.