Rule 18.8 - Jury Sequestration(a) Death Penalty Cases. In a death penalty case, the jury shall be sequestered during the entire trial.(b) Other Cases. In all other cases, the jury may be sequestered on request of either the defendant or the prosecuting attorney made at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the trial. The court may grant or refuse the request to sequester the jury. The court may, on its own initiative or upon request of either party, sequester a jury at any stage of a trial.Comment
Rule 18.8 preserves practice under former Rule 10.02 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court. Sequestration is mandatory in death penalty cases, see Simmons v. State, 805 So. 2d 452 (Miss. 2001), and discretionary in other cases, see Baldwin v. State, 732 So. 2d 236 (Miss. 1999).