CHL Question during Jury Selection

[austin-tatious]

I never get picked. At first I thought I was just getting lucky, but the last couple of times I noted that anyone who stood up and answered the questions confidently and expressed an opinion based in logic did not get picked. The super quiet ones who were melting into the corners all got chosen. Don't know if it is a pattern everywhere else, but it seems to work this way in El Paso.

That is my experience and observation(for Travis County). I do answer and express my opinions with confidence. I don't know about the logical part though. I don't get picked, nor do others who answer in a similar manner.

[pedalman]

Then he asked some questions about the presumption of innocence which I also answered. Obviously the prosecutor bumped me.

"Of course I know what presumption of innocence is. Now, let's quit wasting all this time, give the defendant a fair trial, and then string him up."

[mgood]

I never get picked. At first I thought I was just getting lucky, but the last couple of times I noted that anyone who stood up and answered the questions confidently and expressed an opinion based in logic did not get picked. The super quiet ones who were melting into the corners all got chosen. Don't know if it is a pattern everywhere else, but it seems to work this way in El Paso.

That is my experience and observation(for Travis County). I do answer and express my opinions with confidence. I don't know about the logical part though. I don't get picked, nor do others who answer in a similar manner.

The one time I actually had to appear, I figured I was far too opinionated to get picked. I answered the questions to the best of my ability.
And I got selected to sit on a jury.
The guy got 40 years for Aggravated Sexual Assault on a Child.

[troglodyte]

In the two cases I have sat on the judges made a statement to the effect that if you didn't feel it was prudent to answer in front of everyone that you may ask to approach the bench. I feel that would be a reasonable request even if not offered outright. Nobody approached the bench in either case I was on.

[Mithras61]

I've been summoned for jury duty at the county level several times, but never get past the initial questionnaire. I suspect that I'm exactly what most defendants DON'T want on their jury unless its at the Federal level where crimes tend to be quite technical and the defense equally so.

[TEX]

Funny. Is raising a hand actually answering a question? IS NOT RAISING YOUR HAND ANSWERING A QUESTION? I was in potential jury where one gentlemen said to a particulr question that he didn't think it was any of their business. I saw both attorneys take their pens and make a mark on the what was probably a list of us. In the end he wasn't picked, but at the time they didn't really make an issue of it. The attorney simply said "thats fine if you are uncomfortable with the question". I supposed his statement about the question, in a way, answered the question for both sides. The judge seemed non-plussed also. It was a minor civil case.

I am curious as to whether there are ANY questions that are off limts in such a situation, other than asking if you had comitted a crime you hadn't answered for.

TEX

[surprise_i'm_armed]

When I was living in Plano (Collin County), I reported for jury duty at the
county seat in McKinney. For some reason they assigned our group numbers, although
it didn't seem alphabetical. We had to file into the courtroom based on our assigned numbers.

We filed into a courtroom where there was a prosecutor, a defense attorney, the judge,
and the defendant. They told us that no details of the crime would be disclosed during the
jury selection, but then it slipped that Detective xxxxxxx of the Plano PD Crimes against Children
section, was involved. Then the court officers mentioned pleas with and without an insanity
defense.

The defendant was sitting in front of us. He didn't look mentally ill, but his momma probably
wasn't too proud of him, either. I asked the court if the confinement period would be as long under
the sane or mentally ill decisions. The judge barked back at me that it was none of my concern.
As a potential jury member, I was only to consider guilt or innocence after the testimony.

I was not chosen for the jury - big surprise!

SIA

[HankB]

I've been called for jury duty several times.

The first couple of times the case was settled before we got to voir dire.

I did serve on a traffic case once. (Guy had a fool for a lawyer - himself. Was doing OK until he got caught in a lie, and then during closing arguments HE mentioned cops had been out to his home 5 times for domestic abuse.)

Once I was excused from a personal injury case because one of the lawyers didn't like the way I answered the questions.

The last time, it was a speeding case in my town, and the prosecutor asked what I thought of the speed limit on a street I drove every day; I told him it was unreasonably low, probably for revenue enhancement purposes. (Laughter from the jury pool.) Instead of dropping it right there, he asked if I knew that the legislature had DEFINED AS REASONABLE all posted limits; I laughed at him, and told him that if someone thought they needed a LAW to define whether or not something was reasonable, that was darned good evidence that they KNEW it was UNreasonable, and were trying to hide it. (More laughter from the jury pool - and even the judge cracked a smile.)

I didn't get picked.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Another 2 jury stories:

1. I worked with a man from Garland (Dallas County) whose turn for jury duty came up
frequently. His first case was a civil case where 2 big money developers were suing one
another because a joint project of theirs never got built. Tons of excuses on each side.

The reason it didn't get built is because both of these developers had so many projects
going, they never properly communicated and got the joint project done.

They both had big money, they were both jerks, and no one was going to miss a meal due
to the disputed project never getting built. The jury hated both of them, but they had to make a
decision. They basically flipped a coin, said that Developer A was responsible, and awarded damages
in the amount of one (1) US dollar to Developer B. I split a gut when he told me of this!

2. In the other case, a convenience store in downtown Dallas got robbed. Months later the college
age clerk saw a man on the street, called the cops, and said "That's the guy who robbed me months
ago." The defendant was kind of a couch-surfer at friends' apts and couldn't clearly determine where
he was months back.
The cops had no video, no evidence of any kind against this man, just the clerk's say-so that he
was the one.

The defense atty asked the clerk who his co-worker was the night of the robbery. He didn't know.

The jury acquitted the unfairly arrested man.

SIA

[ELB]

The only time I've been through voir dire (back in California, many years before obtaining my CHL), I made it all the way through until the judge — a good friend of mine — asked the jury panel if any of us were personally acquainted with or related to anyone else in the courtroom, including the accused, either attorney, the clerk, the bailiff, or anyone else. I raised my hand. My friend, a superior court judge, said "Yes, Mr. Annoyed Man. I suppose you think that I should probably disclose to everyone here that you and I know each other from church, are members of the same Sunday School class, eat dinner together occasionally, and go camping together every year? Do either defense counsel or The People have any objection to this? Please approach the bench to consult." Neither attorney had any objection, and I made the jury.

I grew up in a small county, registered to vote as soon as I hit 18, and bingo, was on a jury in no time, along with several neighbors and acquaintances. It was a civil trial venued from a big city. When the out of town lawyers asked if anyone in the pool knew anyone else, they were shocked to have 90% of the pool raise their hands. The judge (who knew most of us as well, and was a friend of my family) laughed and told them if they tried to get a jury of strangers, we'd be voir-diring for weeks. The lawyers conferred quickly and decided to press on with us. When selection was done, I knew at least eight of my fellow jurors. Didn't prevent a hung jury tho.

Isn't there some process for jury selection questions that aren't appropriate to answer in front of everybody? I can think of several things that an attorney would effectively alienate potential jurors by forcing them to answer in the presence of the entire jury pool, but which could be very relevant to a case.

Yes -- I have been in several jury pools (and a couple trials), and the judge will hear individuals in private if need be. In Bexar County, there is a big cattle call pool, which is subsequently divided up into smaller pools that are sent to individual courts. While still at the cattle call, a judge will give us a briefing and then announce that anyone who thinks he or she needs to speak to the judge in private about their ability to serve on a jury can meet the judge individually. There was always a long line at the side of the room for this. Even in the individual courts, a juror could ask to speak to the judge privately.

[KD5NRH]

In the two cases I have sat on the judges made a statement to the effect that if you didn't feel it was prudent to answer in front of everyone that you may ask to approach the bench. I feel that would be a reasonable request even if not offered outright. Nobody approached the bench in either case I was on.

It becomes problematic on a yes-or-no question, though. Would anybody other than a CHL approach the bench in the OP's situation?

[troglodyte]

In the two cases I have sat on the judges made a statement to the effect that if you didn't feel it was prudent to answer in front of everyone that you may ask to approach the bench. I feel that would be a reasonable request even if not offered outright. Nobody approached the bench in either case I was on.

It becomes problematic on a yes-or-no question, though. Would anybody other than a CHL approach the bench in the OP's situation?

Probably not but you haven't verbally confirmed it in front of a bunch of strangers. Yes, they may may assume, and they may be correct, but they will never know for sure. Maybe of little consequence but still allows for some privacy.

On the other hand, most of the people I have ever sat on a jury with have a hard enough time remembering what went on in the trial much less how I may have answered a question in weeding out process.

[seamusTX]

It becomes problematic on a yes-or-no question, though. Would anybody other than a CHL approach the bench in the OP's situation?

Sure, if some good old boy didn't want it known that he had wimped out.

This is a non-issue. In most counties, you will be in a room with 50 or so strangers who will not remember your name or anything else that you say. What could they do with any personal information?

I was on a jury with 11 other people for 10 days. We deliberated for two days. Think about what that means (as in Twelve Angry Men). I never saw or heard of them again. I couldn't have told a single one of their names a month later.

(I do remember some of their personalities, and some of the telling points that they made. That was around 1985 -- I don't even remember the year precisely.)

- Jim

[KD5NRH]

This is a non-issue. In most counties, you will be in a room with 50 or so strangers who will not remember your name or anything else that you say. What could they do with any personal information?

I don't live in most counties. Last time I was called, I ran out of fingers counting other potential jurors I had gone to school with, worked with, or whose daughters I had failed to get home on time at some point over the years.

Fortunately, the defendant pled guilty before the defense attorney got a good look at the jury pool - he would've had the same problem.

[nils]

"Last time I was called, I ran out of fingers counting other potential jurors I had gone to school with, worked with, or whose daughters I had failed to get home on time at some point over the years."