Avery is used to being in a courtroom, but this week he’s in court for a different reason – jury duty. He’s planning on recording some content when it’s allowed and diving deeper into his experience once it concludes, but we want to focus some of our blogs this week on all things jury duty. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at how the prosecution and defense narrow down their choice of jurors during a jury selection process.
Narrowing Down Potential Jurors
If you are summoned for jury duty, know that this doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically be on a jury tasked with deciding someone’s criminal fate. While a jury duty notice is the first step, there are other hoops you’ll have to navigate before you are seated for a trial.
When you arrive for jury duty, you’ll be seated in a courtroom while you await your turn alongside other members of the community who have been selected for jury duty. Eventually the voir dire process will begin, which is the act of interviewing jury members one at a time to decide whether they may be an ideal fit for the case. During the process, both the prosecution and defense attorneys will ask you specific questions about your life, your job and any potential biases you may have that could cause problems for a fair and balanced trial. You can expect to be asked about your job, your family, your familiarity with the criminal justice system and for reasons why you may not be able to act as a neutral juror.
For example, if you’re overseeing a sexual assault case and you mention that you were assaulted in college, the defense is likely to ask for you to be removed from the jury pool as it seems likely that a past experience could make it difficult for you to empathize with the defense. Similarly, being employed as a criminal defense attorney is likely a reason that the prosecution would want a person removed from the potential jury pool.
So what exactly do lawyers look for when working to select a group of jurors? Ideally they want someone who is rather basic in nature, with no extreme viewpoints or complex histories. They also don’t want someone who seems eager to serve on a jury, as perceived notions or a desire to influence others could prove costly to both sides. The ideal candidate is a pretty basic average Joe.
With that said, both the prosecution and defense are hoping to stock the jury with people who appear to lean their way, as this will likely help them secure an ideal outcome. For example, the prosecution may want a small business owner on the jury if they are trying to secure a guilty verdict on a theft charge, whereas a defense attorney may want that same small business owner if they are representing someone accused of government tax evasion. Individuals may have different internal motivations and biases, but lawyers really want to find fair and impartial jurors that may be influenced to lean their way.
Neither side wants extremists on the jury, even if they may be on their side. The prosecution isn’t going to try to seat someone with obvious racial biases on a jury for a case involving a minority facing a burglary charge. Although they may be more likely to favor their side, extremists can actually do more harm than good if a more moderate jury ends up intentionally going in the opposite direction of a unfavorable jury member. It’s all about balance, and overall both sides are just looking for fair and impartial individuals who may be more apt to lean to their side.
During the jury selection process, both the prosecution and defense can petition to have specific jurors removed from the potential pool. Similarly, if neither side has any obvious objections, and the judge doesn’t see any issues either, that individual may be seated on the jury. This interview and dismissal/appointment process goes on until a jury and alternates have been seated for trial.
Circle back later this week to see if Avery has been selected for trial or what he learned from his experience, and if you’re looking to get out of jury duty, head on over to this blog. And as always, if you need help with a criminal matter of your own, connect with Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
