TrialByJuryFilter

August 13, 2005 7:56 PM

So, watching Law & Order: Trial By Jury tonight, it inspired a question. In the show, the jury had to watch a videotape of a murder. My question is, if a juror is traumatized enough by something like that to need therapy, will the courts pay for the therapy, if the juror doesn't have insurance?

I did Google on this for a while, and found links about how traumatized jurors might influence a trial (such as a previously-raped juror in a rape trial), but not much on the care for such jurors.

posted by IndigoRain to Law & Government (2 answers total)

From my experience in jury interviews, it's almost certain that if this kind of evidence is going to be presented at a trial (and both the defense and prosecution would be aware of this), the judge will raise the issue during the voir dire.
posted by SPrintF at 8:14 PM on August 13, 2005

SPrintF is right. I've sat in on numerous murder trials where the jury watched videotape of the murder (via surveillance video), and the lawyers always asked beforehand about sensitivities to that sort of stuff. So far, none of those jurors has complained about residual effects, but I can't imagine the state being willing to pay for therapy, and citizens are generally precluded from suing states (because of sovereign immunity).

And hey, being on a jury is part of your civic duty...
posted by elquien at 8:38 PM on August 13, 2005