CACI No. 5011. Reading Back of Trial Testimony in Jury Room
Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2023 edition)
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5011.Reading Back of Trial Testimony in Jury Room
You may request in writing that trial testimony be read to you. I will
have the court reporter read the testimony to you. You may request that
all or a part of a witness’s testimony be read.
Your request should be as specific as possible. It will be helpful if you
can state:
1. The name of the witness;
2. The subject of the testimony you would like to have read; and
3. The name of the attorney or attorneys asking the questions when
the testimony was given.
The court reporter is not permitted to talk with you when she or he is
reading the testimony you have requested.
While the court reporter is reading the testimony, you may not
deliberate or discuss the case.
You may not ask the court reporter to read testimony that was not
specifically mentioned in a written request. If your notes differ from the
testimony, you must accept the court reporter’s record as accurate.
New April 2004; Revised February 2005
Directions for Use
The read-back should not be conducted in the jury room unless the attorneys
stipulate to that location.
Sources and Authority
• Jury Request for Additional Information During Deliberations. Code of Civil
Procedure section 614.
• “Section 614 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that if there is a
disagreement among jurors during their deliberations as to any part of the
testimony which they have heard they may return into court and secure from the
court in the presence of counsel for all parties the desired information as to the
record. If they ask for testimony relating to a specified subject, they are entitled
to hear all of it. However, it is equally clear that the trial judge does not have to
order read any part of the record which is not thus requested by the jury
foreman.” (McGuire v. W. A. Thompson Distributing Co. (1963) 215 Cal.App.2d
356, 365-366 [30 Cal.Rptr. 113], internal citations omitted.)
• “When the jury requests a repetition of certain testimony, the trial court is not
required to furnish the jury with testimony not requested.” (Allen v. Toledo
1448
(1980) 109 Cal.App.3d 415, 422 [167 Cal.Rptr. 270], internal citations omitted.)
• “Appellants assign as error the court’s refusal to comply with their counsel’s
request for testimony reading. It was not. It is not the party to whom the law
gives the right to select testimony to be read. And the law does not make the
party or his attorney the arbiter to determine the jury’s wishes.” (Asplund v.
Driskell (1964) 225 Cal.App.2d 705, 714 [37 Cal.Rptr. 652], original italics.)
Secondary Sources
7 Witkin, California Procedure (5th ed. 2008) Trial, § 324
Wegner et al., California Practice Guide: Civil Trials & Evidence, Ch. 15-D, Juror
Requests for Additional Information During Deliberations, ¶ 15:92 (The Rutter
Group)
28 California Forms of Pleading and Practice, Ch. 326, Jury Instructions, § 326.32
(Matthew Bender)
4 California Trial Guide, Unit 91, Jury Deliberations and Rendition of Verdict,
§ 91.01 (Matthew Bender)
California Judges Benchbook: Civil Proceedings - Trial § 13.37 (Cal CJER 2019)
CONCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS CACI No. 5011
1449
© Judicial Council of California.
