CALCRIM No. 124. Separation Admonition
Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2023 edition)
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124.Separation Admonition
[You may be permitted to separate during recesses and at the end of the
day. I will tell you when to return. Please remember, we cannot begin the
trial until all of you are in place, so it is important to be on time.]
Remember, do not talk about the case or about any of the people or any
subject involved in it with anyone, including the other jurors. Do not do
research, share information, or talk to each other or to anyone else about
the facts of the case or anything else connected with the trial, and do not
use any form of electronic or wireless communication to do any of those
things, either.
Do not make up your mind or express any opinion about the case or any
issue connected with the trial until after you have discussed the case with
the other jurors during deliberations.
New January 2006; Revised August 2012
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to admonish the jury “at each adjournment of the
court before the submission of the cause to the jury.” Pen. Code, § 1122(b).
Adjournment means continuing proceedings to another court day, not every time the
court calls a recess. People v. Heishman (1988) 45 Cal.3d 147, 174 [246 Cal.Rptr.
673, 691, 753 P.2d 629], citing People v. Moore (1971) 15 Cal.App.3d 851,
852-853 [93 Cal.Rptr. 447].
AUTHORITY
• Statutory Authority. Pen. Code, § 1122(b).
SECONDARY SOURCES
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] (Matthew Bender).
125-199. Reserved for Future Use
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