Jury Selection Chapter 9 PDF

Chapter 9 Your Rights – ü 6th Amendment (criminal cases); 7th Amendment (civil cases) § Right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury § Right to a lawyer, to face your accuser, and to know the nature of the charges and evidence against you Impartial Jury – Jury: A sworn body of citizens ga...

Chapter 9 Your Rights – ü 6th Amendment (criminal cases); 7th Amendment (civil cases) § Right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury § Right to a lawyer, to face your accuser, and to know the nature of the charges and evidence against you Impartial Jury – Jury: A sworn body of citizens gathered to render an impartial (neutral, fair, unbiased) verdict on a question given to them by a court Jury of your peers? Are you entitled to this? Juror eligibility: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. US Citizen 18 years of age or more No felony convictions Must speak English Be mentally competent Live in relevant jurisdiction Q: Is there one up-todate list or source with all this information? A: No. The best we might have are voter registration or driver’s license records Types of Juries and Their Decisions 1) Grand Juries decide: – Is further investigation or prosecution warranted – if yes, issue an indictment 2) Civil Juries decide: Liability (who is responsible) Damages (what should the responsible party have to pay) 3) Criminal Juries decide: Guilt Death penalty cases: Bifurcated jury process (almost like 2 trials in 1) Guilt phase (not guilty or guilty) Sentencing phase (life in prison or death penalty) Important Jury Selection Terms 1) Voir Dire – Ø The legal proceeding in which jury selection occurs 2) Challenges for cause (often based on perceived bias) Ø Relationship to a party, language ability Ø Also, certain attitudinal positions may result in a juror being excluded “for cause” 3) Peremptory challenges Ø No stated reason for being excused as a juror Ø There are a limited number based on type of case Voir Dire – ™ Process of questioning potential jurors to identify and eliminate biased individuals ™ Limited Voir Dire – Only a few yes or no questions – Potential jurors questioned in a group by the judge – No pretrial questionnaire or social media analysis ™ Expansive Voir Dire – Questions are open-ended and yes/no – Judges and attorneys ask questions to individuals – Pretrial questionnaire and social media analysis Batson v. Kentucky (1986) – In the trial of a black defendant (Batson) who was charged with burglary, the prosecution struck all four black persons during the voir dire The Batson case - which was decided by the Supreme Court - made it so that the prosecution cannot use peremptory challenges to excuse jurors because of race in a criminal case. Ø Violates defendant’s constitutional rights to equal protection under the law Ø No guarantee to jury of one’s own race but cannot purposefully exclude members of that race Extensions of Batson Decision – 1) Powers v. Ohio (1991) – Black jurors cannot be systematically excluded even if the defendant is white, not black 2) Georgia v. McCollum (1992) – Victims of a robbery were black and defense intended to strike black jurors – US Supreme Court extended Batson to defendant 3) Edmonson v. Leesville (1991) – Extends Batson to civil cases (not just criminal cases) 4) J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994) – Extends Batson to gender (cannot exclude based on gender) Traditional vs. Scientific Jury Selection – Is Scientific Jury Selection More Effective than Traditional Jury Selection? – ™ Hard to know—not many scientific studies ™ Comparison of outcomes in death penalty cases using trial consultants versus not (Nietzel & Dillehay, 1986) – Jury voted for death in 2/3 of cases WITHOUT a consultant – Jury voted for death in 1/3 of cases a WITH consultant