AMENDMENTS OF MICHIGAN COURT RULES OF 1985, 00-26 (Mich. 6-26-2001)

Rule 2.511. Impaneling the Jury.

(A) [Unchanged.]

(B) Alternate Jurors. The court may direct that 7 or more jurors be impaneled to sit. After the instructions to the jury have been given and the action is ready to be submitted, unless the parties have stipulated that all the jurors may deliberate, the names of the jurors must be placed in a container and names drawn to reduce the number of jurors to 6, who shall constitute the jury. The court may retain the alternate jurors during deliberations. If the court does so, it shall instruct the alternate jurors not to discuss the case with any other person until the jury completes its deliberations and is discharged. If an alternate juror replaces a juror after the jury retires to consider its verdict, the court shall instruct the jury to begin its deliberations anew.

(C)-(G) [Unchanged.]

Rule 6.411. Additional Jurors.

The court may impanel more than 12 jurors. If more than the number of jurors required to decide the case are left on the jury before deliberations are to begin, the names of the jurors must be placed in a container and names drawn from it to reduce the number of jurors to the number required to decide the case. The court may retain the alternate jurors during deliberations. If the court does so, it shall instruct the alternate jurors not to discuss the case with any other person until the jury completes its deliberations and is discharged. If an alternate juror replaces a juror after the jury retires to consider its verdict, the court shall instruct the jury to begin its deliberations anew.

Rule 6.620. Impaneling the Jury.

(A) Alternate Jurors. The court may direct that 7 or more jurors be impaneled to sit in a criminal case. After the instructions to the jury have been given and the case submitted, the names of the jurors must be placed in a container and names drawn to reduce the number of jurors to 6, who shall constitute the jury. The court may retain the alternate jurors during deliberations. If the court does so, it shall instruct the alternate jurors not to discuss the case with any other person until the jury completed its deliberations and is discharged. If an alternate juror replaces a juror after the jury retires to consider its verdict, the court shall instruct the jury to begin its deliberations anew.

B. [Unchanged.]

Staff Comment: The June 26, 2001 amendments of MCR 2.511(B), MCR 6.411, and MCR 6.620(A), effective September 1, 2001, were based on a proposal from the Michigan Judges Association. Consistent with the December 1999 amendment of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure for the United States District Courts, the amendments allow courts to retain alternate jurors during deliberations.