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an electronic device needed for participation. Negative answers to these questions do not
disqualify a potential juror, but may require the court to provide other jury service
options. It is important to not automatically exclude these potential jurors from the jury
pool, because that can negatively impact the demographic diversity of the jury pool. Any
potential jurors with limited access can be brought into the court or some other location,
such as libraries, schools, or universities, where the technology/access to participate
remotely can be provided by the court. As a last resort, the court can postpone the
service of jurors who do not have access to the necessary technology and cannot be
provided an alternate method or location for participation until the resumption of in-
person jury trials.
Recommendation 2.4 – Provide Zoom Hearing Information and Instructions with
the Juror Summons
Give each potential juror instructions and a link to the Zoom hearing on their summons.
This can be done in the following ways:
a. The Zoom hearing information can be included separately with the juror summons
that is sent out to potential jurors;
b. The court may design a new juror summons that lists the court proceeding, jury
trial date, time of appearance, and the Zoom Meeting ID.
Recommendation 2.5 – Direct Prospective Jurors to Test Technology in Advance
Give potential jurors an opportunity to test their technology and ability to log into Zoom
prior to reporting for service. This can be done by providing jurors with the Zoom test
link www.Zoom.us/test, or by the court offering a separate time, before the first
appearance, when jurors can log into Zoom with a jury clerk to verify connectivity. Such
a meeting can be used by the court as a tutorial session with potential jurors on some of
the Zoom functions, such as hiding all non-video participants, switching from gallery
view to speaker view, raising and lowering their hands, asking for the host for help,
muting and unmuting, etc. The court can offer these test sessions with a host by setting
up some time periods where a Zoom host or co-host would have “office hours” when
jurors could log in and be given a live tutorial on Zoom functionality.
Recommendation 2.6 – Provide Jurors Instructions Regarding Virtual Courtroom
Decorum
Give potential jurors instructions on proper remote trial etiquette, such as dressing
properly, finding a quiet place free of distractions and interruptions, not accessing other
electronic devices while participating, not using a virtual background but using a
neutral/plain wall behind them (no pictures or windows), making sure lighting is good for
video, and renaming their Zoom video screen with their full name or juror numbers (as
the court directs). See Tips for Successful Virtual Court Proceedings.
Recommendation 2.7 – Organize Jurors Before Jury Selection
Request that jurors log on to the Zoom meeting an hour before the jury selection, to
ensure that all jurors can, in fact, participate remotely, but also provide a phone number