Sequestration (US criminal procedural law)

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The term sequestration (from the Latin sequestrare "to separate, separate") refers to the isolation of the members of a lay judge's bench ( jury ) from the outside world in US criminal procedure law in order to ensure that their judgment is unaffected and only on the basis of the evidence presented in court is felled. It thus serves the right of the accused to a fair trial .

The term is also used for shielding witnesses. In contrast to jury sequestration, however, the witnesses are not isolated from the outside world, but are merely prohibited from attending the trial before their testimony, in order to avoid being influenced by previous testimony of other witnesses.

Overall, jury sequestration is rare. However, the judge usually orders them in spectacular, high-profile cases where there is a risk that media coverage or public opinion will influence the jury's decision.

The purpose of isolation is to prevent unintentional as well as deliberate influence on the jury, in particular through bribery or threats. It can have far-reaching restrictions and burdens on the jury. As a rule, the jury is housed in a hotel, where it is screened and monitored around the clock. They are not allowed to speak about the case and are prohibited from following press and television reports. Contact with each other and with their relatives is very limited in time.

Usually a jury sequestration lasts no more than a few days or a few weeks, but it can last several months and does not end until the verdict is pronounced. In the murder trial of Charles Manson and members of his family , the jury was isolated from the outside world for eight and a half months. The jury sequestration in OJ Simpson's criminal trial lasted 266 days. The costs of a sequestration are borne by the state and can amount to a high six-figure sum depending on the length of the proceedings.

Well-known examples

  • 1970/1971 there was a sequestration of the jury in the Charles Manson Trial for the murders of Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca .
  • In the 1992 trial to assess Jeffrey Dahmer's sanity , the jury was isolated from the outside world for three weeks.
  • In 1995 the jury was sequestrated in the murder trial of OJ Simpson .
  • The jury was sequestered in the 2017 sexual assault criminal case against Bill Cosby .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g sequestration . In: The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Retrieved December 31, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b Markus Geisler: The design of the indictment principle according to American criminal procedure and constitutional law . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-428-09258-9 , pp. 35 .
  3. ↑ a b c Stephanie Simon, Ralph Frammolino: Despite Perks, Sequestration Is a Gilded Cage, Jurors Say: Courts: Former panelists describe isolation and censorship facing those who will hear the Simpson case. In: The New York Times . New York Times Company, January 15, 1995, accessed December 31, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b Timothy Egan: NOT GUILTY: THE JURY; One Juror Smiled; Then They Knew . In: The New York Times . New York Times Company, October 4, 1995; accessed December 31, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Kate Dar Rauch: After the Verdict . In: The Washington Post . April 14, 1992, accessed December 31, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Eric Levenson: Bill Cosby trial: What it's like to be on a sequestered jury . CNN , June 9, 1995, accessed December 31, 2017 .