Poindexter Jury’s Request for Dictionary Remains Undefined

The jurors in the John M. Poindexter trial knotted the courtroom in a legal quandary Thursday when they sent a note to the judge with a simple plea: “We need a dictionary. Please.”

The reply was not simple. U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene called lawyers for the prosecution and defense in the Iran-Contra case to the courtroom for advice.

“I’m not playing hide the ball,” defense attorney Richard W. Beckler said, but he pointed out that if the jury wanted to look up a legal term already defined by the judge’s instructions, they were legally prohibited from doing so.

Prosecutor Dan K. Webb agreed. Judge Greene had some misgivings. “I hate for everything they ask for to tell them, ‘No, go away,’ ” he said.

An hour after the request, Judge Greene compromised. In a note to the jury, he explained that, while he could not give them a dictionary for looking up legal words, he could send them the definition for any “non-legal, common usage term” they needed.

“What term do you wish to have defined?” the judge asked. The judge and lawyers waited for a reply, preparing to argue whether to answer the request of the jury, which was in its fourth day of deliberations. After 10 minutes, a note came back from the jury.

Judge Greene smiled, shook his head, and read the note to the courtroom: “Thank you, the definition we required before is no longer needed.”