The Nuts and Bolts of Jury Selection
October 2006
A refresher on the most important rules of juror selection, with practice tips and insight into what a judge watches for.
General Credit
1. Only an undue or extreme hardship will suffice to excuse a juror from service based on hardship. True False
2. Judges are required to consult with the parties’ attorneys prior to excusing jurors for hardship. True False
3. A juror who is not compensated by an employer for jury duty will be automatically excused due to hardship. True False
4. Judges and counsel in both criminal and civil cases have the right to personally question jurors during voir dire. True False
5. So long as the questions asked by the attorneys to jurors are relevant, the judge cannot limit the attorneys’ amount of time during voir dire. True False
6. Although counsel are given wide latitude in the type of voir dire questions they may pose, due to juror privacy they cannot inquire of jurors’ intimately personal traits and experiences. True False
7. Prospective jurors may request to answer any sensitive questions outside the presence of the remaining panel. True False
8. Challenges for cause are distinguished from peremptory challenges because for-cause challenges must be based on specific grounds for being excused. True False
9. Jurors may not be excused for cause solely due to their lack of proficiency in the English language. True False
10. Every law enforcement officer should be excused for cause on general disqualification grounds. True False
11. The following people have an implied bias and can thus be excused for cause: those related by blood or marriage to the parties, an employer or employee of a party, those who have served as jurors during the past year at a trial involving either party, and those who have a pecuniary interest in the subject matter of the trial. True False
12. A juror who is an attorney employed by the same district attorney’s office that is trying a case has an implied bias and can be excused for cause. True False
13. A juror who states that he or she does not want to serve in a trial because it would be too emotional must be excused due to an actual bias. True False
14. The party making a challenge for cause has the burden of proving that a juror is actually biased. True False
15. The plaintiff or prosecution, because it originally filed the case, goes first in challenging jurors for cause. True False
16. The plaintiff or prosecution, because it originally filed the case, goes first in exercising peremptory challenges. True False
17. “Cognizable groups” for purposes of <i>Batson/Wheeler</i> include resident aliens, the hearing-impaired, low-income people, young people, people over 70 years of age, and less-educated people. True False
18. To establish that a prima facie <i>Batson/Wheeler</i> violation has occurred, a party must show that it was more likely than not that an impermissible exercise of the peremptory challenge was made. True False
19. When a <i>Batson/Wheeler</i> violation has been found, the party who successfully raised the issue has the choice of restarting jury selection with a new panel, requiring the challenged juror to be reseated, or being awarded more peremptory challenges. True False
20. If both sides consent, a court may reserve ruling on a Batson/Wheeler challenge until the end of jury selection. True False
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