Defense Counsel Journal - International Association of Defense ...

Court-Imposed Time Limits on Trial Page 393limited trials are perhaps theonly way to ensure that the courtreserves a fair amount of timefor the defense to present itscase. Most juries are told at theoutset of a trial that a trial willlast a certain period of time, sayfour weeks. A plaintiff that usesup three weeks in its case-inchiefobviously prejudices thedefendant if it were given onlyone week to present its defense.Similarly, jurors may hold itagainst the defense if the trialends up taking longer than thepromised period of time. Evenwhere judges attempt to explaindelays (e.g., sidebars orarguments during extendedbreaks), jurors are likely totolerate such delays early in thetrial but their patience will waneduring the defense case as thetrial goes on. If a defendant isguaranteed a certain amount oftime to present its case, thendefense counsel will be able todo so by saving necessary timethroughout the trial. Thus, bothon the merits and in terms ofengendering goodwill fromjurors, defendants seem to scoremore points by efficientlypresenting their evidence andthen sitting down.Shorter trials help to ma intainthe jury’s a ttention. Timelimitedtrials help keep the juryfocused and engaged. More thanever, jurors today are used togetting answers and gatheringinformation within seconds onthe Internet. They expect toresolve issues sooner rather thanlater. If jurors are forced to sitthrough a prolonged trial, theirattention and ability to processkey information inevitably willfade. In fact, shorter trials limitthe chance that jurors lose focusas a result of sheer boredom. Time limits red uce thelikelihood of jurors beingexcused for hardship duringvoir dire or during trial. Whilejudges have become lesssympathetic to jurors’ pleas to beexcused from jury duty on thebasis of work commitments, if acase is initially estimated to takea month or more, it is morelikely that pro-defense jurorsmay be released from the panelbecause they have a longstandingfamily obligation,purchased tickets for a businesstrip, or are better able toarticulate a legitimate hardshipcreated by a trial with no enddate in sight. With a predictablyshorter trial, it will be muchharder for pro-defense jurors toget excused for an allegedhardship. For those jurors andalternatives who are impaneled,a longer trial creates more of arisk that that they will become illor encounter an unforeseenconflict that may prevent themfrom completing their juryservice. Too many dismissedjurors or alternatives may lead toa mistrial, wasted expense forthe client, and a retrial where