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The court’s instructions to the jury must be delivered orally in open court, in the presence of counsel and the defendant. E.g., United States v. Becerra, 939 F.3d 995, 1001 (9th Cir. 2019) (“the historic practice of oral jury instruction remains central to the fairness of jury trials”); State v. Norris, 10 Kan. App. 2d 397, 401, 699 P.2d 585, 588 (1985) (“oral instruction is vital to the fulfillment of the court’s duty to instruct the jury”); United States v. Noble, 155 F.2d 315, 318 (D.C. Cir. 1949); State v. Lindsey, 245 N.J. Super. 466, 470, 586 A.2d 269, 271 (N.J. App. 1991) (alternative ground) (“At the close of the trial, the judge instructed the jury orally. He also gave the jury a ‘cut and paste’ sheet containing the definitions of the offenses and types or degrees of culpability. . . . We . . . hold that the failure to read the entire charge to the jury requires reversal. The fundamental importance of a proper charge, read in full to the jurors, naturally is highlighted in a close case where basic disagreement emerges and is articulated during the course of jury deliberation.”); United States v. Perry, 479 F.3d 885, 892-93 (D.C. Cir. 2007) (dictum: in the absence of objection, no plain error found on the record of the case at bar). In some jurisdictions, the trial judge has discretion to submit his or her instructions to the jury in writing, in addition to delivering them orally. See, e.g., PA. RULE CRIM. PRO. 646(B); State v. Turner, 373 S.C. 121, 129, 644 S.E.2d 693, 697-98 (2007) (recognizing this discretion but “remind[ing] the Bench that the submission of written instructions to the jury is not appropriate for every case . . . [and that the] practice should be carefully exercised by the Bench”); Ross v. State, 264 Ga. App. 830, 832, 592 S.E.2d 479, 482 (2003) (“[t]he trial court is authorized to give a written copy of its charge to the jury, but it is not obligated to do so”). In a few jurisdictions, written as well as oral instructions are routinely required. See, e.g., MICH. RULE COURT 2.513(N)(3); WEST’S MONTANA CODE ANN. § 46-16-504; OKLA. STAT. ANN. tit. 22, § 893; VERNON’S ANN. TEX. CODE CRIM. PRO. art. 36.14. And at least one State requires written instructions and forbids the judge from including in an oral charge anything that is not in those written instructions. See State v. Gorman, 628 S.W.2d 739 (Tenn. 1982) (applying TENN. RULE CRIM. PRO. 30(c))).

First Page

1874

Source Publication

Trial Manual 11 for the Defense of Criminal Cases

Source Editors/Authors

Anthony G. Amsterdam, Randy A. Hertz

Publication Date

2026

Document Type

Chapter

Edition

11

Rights & Restrictions

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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