Articles in the Civil Law category - Page 5 of 5

During deliberations in a motorcycle accident trial, the jury asks to view and discuss some exhibits in the jury room: a series of admitted photos depicting part of the accident scene. May the judge allow the jury to take the photos into the jury room? As with most things, it depends.

This question used to be governed by the “well-settled” rule in Nunnery v. Baucom, 135 N.C. App. 556 (1999), that “trial exhibits introduced into evidence may not be present in the jury room during deliberations unless both parties consent.” For civil cases, the “consent required” rule was replaced in October 2007 by G.S. 1-181.2, which governs both open-court and jury room evidence review. Although this statute is now a few years old, it is perhaps not as widely-known as it could be. For a recent case in point, see Redd v. Wilcohess, LLC, 745 S.E.2d 10 (N.C. App. 2013). So, here’s a review of the standards established by G.S. 1-181.2.

In January we were reminded by the North Carolina Supreme Court in In Re J.B. that:

1) We have military personnel living throughout our state, not just in districts with military facilities, and

2) The federal Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. app. sec. 501, et. seq., (SCRA) applies to all non-criminal judicial and administrative proceedings involving service personnel, including domestic and juvenile cases.

The Act contains no exception for any civil proceeding. So it covers custody, divorce, support, equitable distribution, 50B and 50C cases, abuse, neglect and dependency proceedings and termination of parental rights.