1.Pre-Jury Motions, Logistics, and Preliminary Jury Instructions

JUDGE HANKINSON: Be seated, please, folks. We are here in the State of Florida v. Garcia and Magbanua. Let the record reflect the defendants are present with their attorneys.

Any outstanding motions or issues we need to take up this morning?

JUDGE HANKINSON: All right. There -- I pointed y'all to the standard procedures on trial. Hopefully y'all have looked over those.

we have a witness list from the State?

JUDGE HANKINSON: Once it's been shown to you, you can rely upon what she's shown as being the evidence being shown to the witness. We don't need to go through a big charade of showing it to the other side. You'll know what's being marked.

Ms. Cappleman, if you change your numbering on exhibits, please bring that to the defense attention so they can be clear of what evidence will be shown to the witness without wasting a bunch of time over that in court.

I sent both of you a draft set of jury instructions. I didn't mean to cause a panic, Mr. Zangeneh, but I want to give y'all as early possibility -- early time as possible to look at the legal instructions so that at the appropriate time we can start having some discussion about them.

I know it's a little bit early on, but is anybody aware of any special instructions they're going to be seeking that are outside the standards?

JUDGE HANKINSON: well, I'd like to have an opportunity to do my own research on jury instructions. I feel responsible for jury instructions. That's not a -- just a defense or prosecution issue. It is for the Court. So please give anything novel you're going to suggest to me as early as possible. Don't wait till the last minute. It just causes me inability to research them and just makes for logistical problems. So please try to do that.

we do have codefendants and multiple attorneys here. I want to establish the procedures for that. Whoever is handling that part of the case for that defendant, or the State, whichever attorney is handling that part of the case should be the one making objections and making legal argument. Don't want to get into tag teaming.

And when I say that part of the case, that be divided up opening, each witness is a separate matter, closing. So, basically, if -- whoever is doing the cross on that witness should be the one to make objections and legal argument. So I think that's to your benefit as much as mine, but it keeps things in a little more orderly.

we'll proceed in the way we've been proceeding. As I understand, we'll do State, Garcia, Magbanua, in that order, unless somebody has agreed to the contrary.

Any issues on any of those procedures?

JUDGE HANKINSON: Okay. So I'll give you a chance to research that. But at this point in time, I'm going to -- I'm not going to exempt them from the rule of sequestration if they're going to be witnesses, potentially. Give you an opportunity to further research that. But I don't think this is where we want to start making law on this case.

So I, by written order, exempted Mr. Newlin from the rule of sequestration. All other potential witnesses will be subject to the rule of sequestration. You said you have some witnesses present?

JUDGE HANKINSON: Okay. They were standing and I told them to sit down. So -- no, no, no. I'm sorry. Remain standing. I'm sorry. Rule of sequestration has been invoked. That means you need to remain outside the courtroom except while you're testifying. while you're waiting to testify and until you're excused, you're not to discuss the case among yourselves or with any other person.

Important exception to that is you are free to talk to the attorneys for either side, just not in the presence of any other witnesses.

Obviously, there are witnesses that are not present here today. It's counsel's job to make their witnesses aware of the Court's ruling and advise them that they are under the rule of sequestration.

All the witnesses may step out.

JUDGE HANKINSON: Everybody be seated, please. Good morning, folks. Thank you for being back here this morning. Let me start by talking about time just a moment. I try to run this court on a very strict schedule. I do that mainly to not waste your time. I demand it of the lawyers. The lawyers will tell you that I'm pretty strict with them. We were working after you left yesterday. we were working before you got here today. All that I do to prevent wasting your time.

It will happen. we will have times that it's impossible for me not to have to take up something outside your presence, because that's the way court works sometimes. But I work real hard not to do that. And to make that work, though, I need y'all to be timely. So be here when I tell you. TI don't tell you some time and expect we're really going to start half an hour later. You know, I try to do it where you're not sitting back in that jury room for too long. And I know y'all don't want to be coming to this courthouse any longer than you have to. I'm aware of the sacrifice that y'all are making to be here on the jury, and I'm going to do everything I can to use your time efficiently. I ask for your cooperation in that.

You've now been selected and sworn as the jury to try the case of State of Florida v. Garcia and Magbanua. As we've already discussed during jury selection, they are charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, and solicitation to commit first degree murder. As I've also told you, the charges that the State Attorney has brought are not evidence and you are not to consider them as any proof of guilt.

It's my job to explain the law to you. It's your job to decide the facts of the case. That's one of the fundamental principals of our system of justice. I decide the law. You decide the facts. You apply the facts to the law. So we have totally separate jobs, and that's how our system works.

I know that all of you probably have seen trials sometimes on Tv from time to time, but you probably don't see one from beginning to end. So it may be helpful if you understand the sequence of events that are about to happen. At the beginning of the trial, the next thing that will happen is the attorneys will be given an Opportunity to make an opening statement. The opening statement gives the attorneys a chance to tell you what evidence they believe will be presented during the trial. what the attorneys say is not evidence, and you are not to consider it as such.

Following the opening statements, witnesses will be called to testify under oath. They will be examined and cross-examined by the attorneys. Documents and other exhibits also may be produced as evidence. After the evidence has been presented, I will instruct you on the law. The attorneys will then have an opportunity to make a closing argument.

Following the closing arguments by the attorneys and some concluding remarks by me, you will retire to consider your verdict. You should not form any definite or fixed opinion on the merits of the case until you have heard all the evidence, the argument of the lawyers, and the instructions on the law that I will give you. Until that time, you are not to discuss the case among yourselves.

Your verdict must be based solely on the evidence, or lack of evidence, and the law that I will explain to you.

I now instruct you not to communicate with anyone, including your fellow jurors, about this case. No communication includes no e-mailing, text messaging, tweeting, blogging, or any other form of communication. You cannot do any research about the case or look up any information about the case. If you become aware of any violation of these rules, you must notify the court personnel of the violation.

During the course of the trial, we will take recesses, and you will be permitted to separate and go about your personal affairs. During these recesses, you must not discuss the case with anyone nor permit anyone to say anything to you or in your presence about the case. If anyone attempts to say anything to you or in your presence about the case, tell them that you're on the jury and ask them to stop. If they persist, leave them at once and immediately report the matter to the bailiff, who will advise me.

JUDGE HANKINSON: The case must be tried by you only on the evidence presented during the trial in your presence and in the presence of the defendant, the attorneys, and myself. Jurors must not conduct any investigation of their own. This includes reading newspaper, watching television, or using a computer, cell phone, the Internet, any electronic device, or any other means at all to get information related to the case or the people and places involved in the case. This applies whether you're at the courthouse, at home, or anywhere else. You must not visit places mentioned in the trial or use the Internet to look at maps or pictures to see any place discussed during the trial.

I know probably most of this sounds kind of familiar to you. If you were listening at the beginning, I gave you very similar instruction at the beginning of the case. I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but the Internet has become a big problem for the court system. I know we all get used to, as soon as we have a question, we hop on the phone or computer and start looking up the answer. Obviously, we can't try a case in that way. And if you do those kind of things, then we're all going to have been wasting our time here. I don't want to waste your time. I don't want you wasting my time. So I know it sounds a little boring, but these things do happen. we do have problems along these lines, so please abide by this.

In every criminal proceeding a defendant has the absolute right to remain silent. At no time is it the duty of a defendant to prove his or her innocence. From the exercise of a defendant's right to remain silent, a jury is not permitted to draw any inference of guilt, and the fact that a defendant did not take the witness stand must not influence your verdict in any manner whatsoever.

The attorneys are trained in the rules of evidence and trial procedure, and it is their duty to make all objections they feel are proper. when an objection is made, you should not speculate on the reason why it is made. Likewise, when an objection is sustained or upheld by me, you must not speculate on what might have occurred had the objection not been sustained nor what a witness might have said had he or she been permitted to answer.

I've already told you from time to time we will have what we call sidebar conferences where maybe I will go over here and talk to the attorneys or we might let you step out. Don't think something exciting'’s going on. That's a natural part of every trial. So -- but there are certain times when I have to rule on things outside your presence. That should not concern you.

If you would like to take notes during the trial, you may do so. On the other hand, you are not required to. That is entirely up to you. we've provided you with a pad and a pen for your use if you wish to take notes. Any notes that you take will be for your personal use. However, you should not take them with you from the courtroom until you start your deliberations.

During recesses, if you'll just leave your notes in your seat, the bailiff will ensure they are not tampered with by anyone. They will -- if you just leave them in your seat, at the end of the day they'll collect your notes and secure them away for the evening and then pass them back out to you in the morning. So you're not going to take them from the courtroom until you start your deliberations. Obviously, when you start your deliberations, you will have your notes. No one will ever read your notes. After you have completed your deliberations, the bailiff will destroy your notes.

If you take notes, do not get so involved in note taking that you become distracted from the proceedings. And you may wonder what I mean by that. we've had a rare instance where some juror decides to kind of act like a court reporter and take down everything that's said here. Obviously, important part of your job is to observe the witnesses and decide whether you think they're accurate historians or not. Don't get so buried in note taking that you lose that function.

JUDGE HANKINSON: And let me, as an aside. I know that Ms. Mathis just had an issue with her chair and probably worth mentioning. One of the jurors yesterday thought he had broken the chair, I think. It about fell over backwards. There is a lever on the left-hand side of your chair. If you hit that lever, the back will go back. So, you know, if -- so you don't want to go over backwards, so be a little careful with it. And if it's too far back, just push the lever and lean forward, sitting off of it. It should lock into position. But I thought we had a broken chair. I thought he had fallen over backwards. But, anyways, just the lever on the chair to control your back.

whether or not you take notes, you should rely on your memory of the evidence, and you should not be unduly influenced by the notes of other jurors. Notes are not entitled to any greater weight than each juror's memory of the evidence.

During the trial, you will be permitted to ask questions of witnesses in case you missed something, you did not understand something, or you need to clarify a pertinent issue. The rules of evidence apply regardless of whether a question is asked by the attorney, by me, or by you. Therefore, there may be a legal reason why I cannot ask your question. If I do not ask your question, you must not hold that against any of the parties and please do not take it personally.

Subject to that understanding, this is how we will proceed. when the attorneys have finished asking their questions, if you have a question, simply raise your hand. I will give you time to write your question on a clean piece of paper, and the bailiff will collect your question. I will then confer privately with the attorneys. If I determine that it is a legally appropriate question, I will ask your question, and the attorneys may ask follow-up questions. If your question is not asked, you must not discuss it with the other jurors or hold it against either party.

The questioning of witnesses is the primary responsibility of the attorneys. You are not obligated to ask any questions nor encouraged to ask large numbers of questions. However, if it will help your understanding of the case, you're encouraged to do so. Now, we don't do it in the middle of the witness. we do it when the witness is concluded.

All questions are in writing. we don't do any verbal questions from the jury. I have to have them in writing, because I need to discuss them with the attorneys and decide that it's a legally appropriate question before the witness is asked.

As I indicated, the next thing that's going to occur is the attorneys will be given an opportunity to make their opening statements. As I've also said, what the attorneys say is not evidence, and you are to not consider it as such. However, I do encourage you to give them your careful attention. The opening statements are intended to give you an understanding of the evidence that the attorneys expect to present and the issues in the case.

we'll start with the State of Florida.