THE COURT: Now, members of the jury, now that you have been sworn, I will give you some preliminary instructions to guide you in your participation in this trial. To begin with, you are here to administer justice in this case according to the law and evidence. You are to perform this task with complete fairness and impartiality and without bias, prejudice, or sympathy for or against any of the parties. It will be your duty to find from the evidence what the facts are. You and you alone will be the judges of the facts. You will then have to apply those facts to the law as the court will give it to you. You must follow the law whether you agree with it or not. Nothing that I say or do during the trial is intended to indicate or should be taken by you as indicating what your verdict should be.
The evidence from which you will find the facts will consist of the testimony of witnesses, documents, and other things received into the record as exhibits, as well as any facts that the parties agree to or stipulate to that the court may instruct you to find. Certain things are not evidence and must not be considered by you. I will list them for you now. First, statements, arguments, and questions by lawyers are not evidence, nor are my own statements to you. Only the answers given by the witnesses and the documents admitted as exhibits are evidence. Second, objections to questions are not evidence. The lawyers have an obligation to their clients to make an objection when they believe evidence being offered is improper under the rules of evidence. You should not be influenced by the court's ruling on an objection. If the objection is sustained, ignore the question. If it is overruled, treat the answer like any other.
If you are instructed that some item of evidence is received for a limited purpose only, you must follow that instruction. Third, testimony that the court has excluded or told you to disregard is not evidence and may not be considered. Finally, anything you may have seen or heard outside the courtroom is not evidence and must be disregarded. You are to decide the case solely on the evidence presented here in this courtroom. When you are determining the facts, keep in mind that there are two kinds of evidence: Direct and circumstantial. Direct evidence is direct proof of a fact, such as the testimony of an eyewitness. Circumstantial evidence is proof of facts from which you may infer or conclude that other facts exist. The word infer or the expression to draw an inference means to find that a fact exists from proof of another fact. An inference is to be drawn only if it is logical and reasonable to do so and not by speculation or guesswork.
In deciding whether to draw an inference, you must look at and consider all the facts in light of reason, common sense, and experience. Whether a given inference is or is not to be drawn is entirely a matter for you, the jury, to decide. Circumstantial evidence does not necessarily prove less than direct evidence, nor does it necessarily prove more. Here is an example to help you think about the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence. Assume that when you came into the courthouse this morning, the sun was shining as it is outside, and it was a nice day outdoors. Also assume that the courtroom blinds were drawn and you could not look outside. Assume further that as you were sitting here, someone walked in with an umbrella that was dripping wet, and then a few moments later, someone else walked in with a raincoat that was also dripping wet.
Now, because you could not look outside the courtroom and you couldn't see whether it was raining, and because no witness has testified that it is raining, you would have no direct evidence of the fact that it was raining. But on the combination of facts that I have asked you to assume, it would be reasonable and logical for you to conclude that it was, in fact, raining. That is all there is to circumstantial evidence. You infer on the basis of reason, experience, and common sense from one established fact the existence or the nonexistence of some other fact. I'll give you further instructions on these, as well as other matters, at the end of the case, but keep in mind that you may consider both kinds of evidence. Now, one of your most important tasks as jurors is to evaluate the credibility of the witnesses who will testify before you. That is how truthful and believable they are.
Listen carefully as each witness testifies during both direct and cross-examination and consider whether the witness is telling the truth. It will be up to you to decide which witnesses to believe, which witnesses not to believe, and how much of any witness's testimony to accept or reject. Now, how do you decide what to believe and what not to believe? You are to listen to the witnesses, observe their testimony, and then decide as you would decide such questions in your own life. Did they know what they were talking about? Were they candid, honest, open, and truthful? Did they have a reason to falsify, exaggerate, or distort their testimony? Sometimes it is not what a witness says, but how he or she says it that may give you a clue as to whether or not as to accept that witness's version of an incident or an event as credible or believable.
In short, the way a witness testifies may play an important part in your reaching a judgment as to whether or not you can accept the witness's testimony as reliable. You may hear from law enforcement officials in this case. The fact that a witness may be employed as a law enforcement official does not mean that his or her testimony is deserving of greater or lesser weight than that of an ordinary witness. You may also hear from two witnesses testifying using pseudonyms, that is, not using their real names. The government, the defense, the court, and you, the jury, will know their real names, but the names will not be used in open court solely to protect the privacy of these individuals from disclosure to persons who are not parties to this case. The fact that a witness is testifying using a pseudonym does not mean that his or her testimony is deserving of greater or lesser weight than that of any other witness. Now, a few words about your conduct as jurors.
I gave each of you the following instructions when you were here for jury selection last week, but I will repeat the instructions now because they are extremely important and I am counting on each and every one of you to follow them. First, during the trial, you are not to discuss the case with anyone, nor are you to permit anyone to discuss it with you. This includes posting anything on the internet about this case, whether it be on Instagram, Facebook, X or any social media platform or website. Until you retire to the jury room at the end of the case to deliberate, you simply are not to talk about this case with anyone, including your spouse or partner, family, or close friends. Do not even discuss the case with each other until you begin your actual deliberations at the end of the trial.
Second, please do not, while you're serving as jurors in this trial, have any conversations with the parties, the attorneys, or any witnesses in this case, whether in the courtroom, in the hallways, in the elevators, outside, and anywhere else. I mean, not only to avoid talking about the case, do not talk at all, even to say good morning or to acknowledge any of these people. Someone seeing a juror in conversation with a party, lawyer, or witness might think that something improper was being discussed. To avoid even the appearance of impropriety, avoid any such contact or conversations. I can tell you that when the parties, witnesses, and lawyers pass you in the halls without even acknowledging your presence, they do not mean to be rude. They are simply following my orders because I have ordered them not to talk to you.
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THE COURT: Now, third, do not read or listen to anything outside the courtroom that relates to this case in any way. You are not to allow anyone to speak to you about this case. If you are approached by anyone to speak about it, politely but firmly tell them that the judge has directed you not to do so. Because I am ordering you not to do so. If any person seeks to contact you about this case, you are required to report the incident promptly to me, by sending me a note through my courtroom deputy or through the jury office. Also, be sure that I am informed if any person that you know comes into the courtroom. This is a public trial, so it could happen. But it is important that you do not hear from them what may have happened in the courtroom while the jury was not present. If you should see a friend or relative come into the courtroom, please send me a note through the deputy at your first opportunity.
Fourth, do not try to do any research or make any independent investigation about the case or the issues brought up by this case. Do not go on the internet tonight and research any matters relating to this case. Do not call up lawyer friends and ask about the type of matters at issue here. Fifth, I know many of you use cell phones, laptops, social media, the internet and other tools of technology. You all do. You must not use these tools to communicate electronically with anyone about the case. This includes your family and friends. You may not communicate with anyone about the case on any technological device, including through e-mail, text messaging, or any social media websites. Finally, do not form any opinion until all the evidence is in. A case can only be presented step by step, witness by witness until all the evidence is before you. Keep an open mind until you start your deliberations at the end of the case. Now, you are permitted to take notes during this trial.
The courtroom deputy has given each of you a note pad and a pen. Please write your name on the -- or your juror number, excuse me, on the cover of the pad. Do not write your name. Just the number. If you do take notes, please do so only on these pads. Remember that any notes you take are for your use only and they are to be used only as an aid to your memory. Your memory controls. If you do take notes, be careful not to get so involved in taking notes, that you are not listening to the evidence. Once you are in your deliberations, if there is a disagreement between one juror's notes and another juror's notes or between one juror's notes and another juror's recollection, you can ask to have the court reporter read back the testimony or to have that portion of the transcript sent to you, for it is the official court transcript that controls, not any particular juror's notes. During the course of the trial, exhibits will be received into evidence. They will be marked by an exhibit number.
If there is an exhibit that you are interested in seeing during your deliberations or you think you might be interested, just write down that exhibit number. At the end of the trial, as you begin your deliberations, we will provide each of you with a list of all the witnesses who testified as well as a list of all the exhibits that have been received into evidence. This will be a lengthy trial with many exhibits and witnesses, but please do not hesitate to request as much material as you need when you are in your deliberations. We will now begin the trial. As I told you earlier, the trial is expected to be done in eight weeks. This week, we'll begin each day at 9:30 a.m. Please be on time. To help ensure we start on time, please be in the jury room at 9:15 a.m. at the latest so we can begin without delaying. Starting next week when we begin at 9:00 a.m. each day I will ask you to be here in the morning by 8:45. The key thing is that nobody is late.
If any of you are late, we will have to wait and we can't start until you're all here. And all of us will just have to be kind of cooling our heels until you arrive. And if we lose 10 to 20 minutes each day, we might not be able to get completed on time. It might go past July 4th, which nobody wants. Now, let me tell you how the trial will proceed. First, we will have opening statements. An attorney for the government will make an opening statement. Then an attorney for the defense will do so. The opening statements are neither evidence nor argument. They are simply outlines of what the attorneys believe the evidence will show and they are given to help you follow the evidence as it is presented. After opening statements, the government will present its case. The government will call its witnesses, and after each witness testifies, the defense will have an opportunity to examine the witness.
If that witness is also one of the witnesses the defense will call, the defendant may also examine that witness on matters relevant to its defense so that the witness does not have to testify twice. Following the government's case, the government will rest. The defendant will then have an opportunity to present a defense case should he choose to do so. The defendant here is under no obligation to present a defense. The burden remains at all times on the government to prove the elements of each offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Should the defendant present a defense case, any remaining defense witnesses will testify and the government will have an opportunity to cross-examine them. After the evidence is completed and all sides have rested, the attorneys will give their summations. This is the opportunity for the lawyers to summarize the evidence and to give their closing arguments. Following the summations, I will give you instructions on the law.
And you will then, finally, retire to deliberate on your verdict. I know this will be a long road, but I want to emphasize that you have a tremendously important task as jurors. It is to determine the facts. You, and not the Court, are the sole judges of the facts. The Constitution itself recognizes your unique role in our system of justice. So, please, pay careful attention to the witnesses and evidence received at trial, as well as my instructions on the law. I thank you for your commitment to performing this civic duty and recognize the sacrifices that you have all made to be here today. We will now begin with opening statements. Is the government prepared to proceed?
MS. JOHNSON: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. You may proceed.