CALCRIM No. 101. Cautionary Admonitions: Jury Conduct (Before, During, or After Jury Is Selected)
Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2023 edition)
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101.Cautionary Admonitions: Jury Conduct (Before, During, or
After Jury Is Selected)
Our system of justice requires that trials be conducted in open court
with the parties presenting evidence and the judge deciding the law that
applies to the case. It is unfair to the parties if you receive additional
information from any other source because that information may be
unreliable or irrelevant and the parties will not have had the opportunity
to examine and respond to it. Your verdict must be based only on the
evidence presented during trial in this court and the law as I provide it
to you.
During the trial, do not talk about the case or about any of the people or
any subject involved in the case with anyone, not even your family,
friends, spiritual advisors, or therapists. You may only say that you are
on a jury and the anticipated length of the trial, and you may inform
others of scheduling and emergency contact information. Do not share
any information about the case by any means of communication,
including in writing, by email, by telephone, on the Internet, social
media, Internet chat rooms, and blogs. You must not talk about these
things with other jurors either, until you begin deliberating.
As jurors, you may discuss the case together only after all of the
evidence has been presented, the attorneys have completed their
arguments, and I have instructed you on the law. After I tell you to
begin your deliberations, you may discuss the case only in the jury room,
and only when all jurors are present.
You must not allow anything that happens outside of the courtroom to
affect your decision [unless I tell you otherwise]. During the trial, do not
read, listen to, or watch any news report or commentary about the case
from any source.
Do not use the Internet (, a dictionary/[, or <insert other
relevant source of information or means of communication>]) in any way in
connection with this case, either on your own or as a group. Do not
investigate the facts or the law or do any research regarding this case or
any of its participants. Do not conduct any tests or experiments, or visit
the scene of any event involved in this case. If you happen to pass by the
scene, do not stop or investigate.
[If you have a cell phone or other electronic device, keep it turned off
while you are in the courtroom and during jury deliberations. An
electronic device includes any data storage device. If someone needs to
contact you in an emergency, the court can receive messages that it will
deliver to you without delay.]
During the trial, do not speak to a defendant, witness, lawyer, or anyone
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associated with them. Do not listen to anyone who tries to talk to you
about the case or about any of the people or subjects involved in it. If
someone asks you about the case, tell him or her that you cannot discuss
it. If that person keeps talking to you about the case, you must end the
conversation.
If you receive any information about this case from any source outside of
the trial, even unintentionally, do not share that information with any
other juror. If you do receive such information, or if anyone tries to
influence you or any juror, you must immediately tell the bailiff.
Keep an open mind throughout the trial. Do not make up your mind
about the verdict or any issue until after you have discussed the case
with the other jurors during deliberations. Do not take anything I say or
do during the trial as an indication of what I think about the facts, the
witnesses, or what your verdict should be.
You must not let bias, sympathy, prejudice, or public opinion influence
your assessment of the evidence or your decision. Many people have
assumptions and biases about or stereotypes of other people and may be
unaware of them. You must not be biased in favor of or against any
party, witness, attorney, defendant[s], or alleged victim because of his or
her disability, gender, nationality, national origin, race or ethnicity,
religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, [or] age (./,) [or
socioeconomic status] (./,) [or <insert any other impermissible
form of bias>.]
You must reach your verdict without any consideration of punishment.
I want to emphasize that you may not use any form of research or
communication, including electronic or wireless research or
communication, to research, share, communicate, or allow someone else
to communicate with you regarding any subject of the trial. [If you
violate this rule, you may be subject to jail time, a fine, or other
punishment.]
When the trial has ended and you have been released as jurors, you may
discuss the case with anyone. [But under California law, you must wait
at least 90 days before negotiating or agreeing to accept any payment for
information about the case.]
New January 2006; Revised June 2007, April 2008, December 2008, April 2010,
October 2010, April 2011, February 2012, August 2012, August 2014, September
2019, April 2020
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BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to instruct the jurors on how they must conduct
themselves during trial. (Pen. Code, § 1122.) See also California Rules of Court
Rule 2.1035.
When giving this instruction during the penalty phase of a capital case, the court has
asua sponte duty to delete the sentence which reads “Do not let bias, sympathy,
prejudice, or public opinion influence your decision.” (People v. Lanphear (1984) 36
Cal.3d 163, 165 [203 Cal.Rptr. 122, 680 P.2d 1081]; California v. Brown (1987) 479
U.S. 538, 545 [107 S.Ct. 837, 93 L.Ed.2d 934].) The court should also delete the
following sentence: “You must reach your verdict without any consideration of
punishment.”
If there will be a jury view, give the bracketed phrase “unless I tell you otherwise”
in the fourth paragraph. (Pen. Code, § 1119.)
AUTHORITY
• Statutory Admonitions. Pen. Code, § 1122.
• Avoid Discussing the Case. People v. Pierce (1979) 24 Cal.3d 199 [155 Cal.Rptr.
657, 595 P.2d 91]; In re Hitchings (1993) 6 Cal.4th 97 [24 Cal.Rptr.2d 74, 860
P.2d 466]; In re Carpenter (1995) 9 Cal.4th 634, 646-658 [38 Cal.Rptr.2d 665,
889 P.2d 985].
• Avoid News Reports. People v. Holloway (1990) 50 Cal.3d 1098, 1108-1111
[269 Cal.Rptr. 530, 790 P.2d 1327], disapproved on other grounds in People v.
Stansbury (1995) 9 Cal.4th 824, 830 [38 Cal.Rptr.2d. 394, 889 P.2d 588].
• Judge’s Conduct as Indication of Verdict. People v. Hunt (1915) 26 Cal.App.
514, 517 [147 P. 476].
• No Bias, Sympathy, or Prejudice. People v. Hawthorne (1992) 4 Cal.4th 43, 73
[14 Cal.Rptr.2d 133, 841 P.2d 118].
• No Independent Research. People v. Karis (1988) 46 Cal.3d 612, 642 [250
Cal.Rptr. 659, 758 P.2d 1189]; People v. Castro (1986) 184 Cal.App.3d 849, 853
[229 Cal.Rptr. 280]; People v. Sutter (1982) 134 Cal.App.3d 806, 820 [184
Cal.Rptr. 829].
• Prior Version of This Instruction Upheld. People v. Ibarra (2007) 156
Cal.App.4th 1174, 1182-1183 [67 Cal.Rptr.3d 871].
• Court’s Contempt Power for Violations of Admonitions. Pen. Code, § 1122(a)(1);
Code Civ. Proc. § 1209(a)(6) (effective 1/1/12).
RELATED ISSUES
Admonition Not to Discuss Case With Anyone
In People v. Danks (2004) 32 Cal.4th 269, 298-300 [8 Cal.Rptr.3d 767, 82 P.3d
1249], a capital case, two jurors violated the court’s admonition not to discuss the
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case with anyone by consulting with their pastors regarding the death penalty. The
Supreme Court stated:
It is troubling that during deliberations not one but two jurors had conversations
with their pastors that ultimately addressed the issue being resolved at the
penalty phase in this case. Because jurors instructed not to speak to anyone
about the case except a fellow juror during deliberations . . . . may assume such
an instruction does not apply to confidential relationships, we recommend the
jury be expressly instructed that they may not speak to anyone about the case,
except a fellow juror during deliberations, and that this includes, but is not
limited to, spouses, spiritual leaders or advisers, or therapists. Moreover, the jury
should also be instructed that if anyone, other than a fellow juror during
deliberations, tells a juror his or her view of the evidence in the case, the juror
should report that conversation immediately to the court.
(Id. at p. 306, fn. 11.)
The court may, at its discretion, add the suggested language to the second paragraph
of this instruction.
Jury Misconduct
It is error to instruct the jury to immediately advise the court if a juror refuses to
deliberate or expresses an intention to disregard the law or to decide the case based
on penalty, punishment, or any other improper basis. (People v. Engelman (2002) 28
Cal.4th 436, 449 [121 Cal.Rptr.2d 862, 49 P.3d 209].)
SECONDARY SOURCES
5 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Criminal Trial § 726.
4 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 81, Jury
Selection and Opening Statement, § 81.06[1], Ch. 85, Submission to Jury and
Verdict, § 85.05[1], [4] (Matthew Bender).
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