Tell me all i need to know about jury duty selection?

Question

tomarrow i have a jury duty selection thing where they pick jury. im a lil nervous and excited. fill me in on what i need to know please.

Answer 1

There will probably be a lot of waiting.  So, yes, definately bring something to read.

Exactly what will happen depends on the court in which you are performing your jury service.  But, most likely, you will be in a very large pool from which jurors will be picked for a number of cases.

Eventually, you will be called into a courtroom with about 40 different people.  If you are among the first 8-15 people in line, you will be much more likely to be chosen for the jury (which is generally composed of 6-12 people).  Each of the attorneys will be given an opportunity to ask you and the other prospective jurors some questions to ensure that you are capable of being impartial.  The questions will likely involve your relationship to the parties (or lack thereof), any prior interactions you may have had with law enforcement (if it is a criminal matter), and any preconceptions you may have concerning the facts of the case.  The judge may ask you questions too.  Most likely, none of the questioning will be embarassing, but if they are embarassing for some reason, the judge will most likely allow you to be questioned away from the other jurors.

Each of the attorneys get several strikes, which means that they can eliminate a prospective juror from the field.  If you are struck, or if you are too far back in line and are not picked for that reason, you will likely be sent back to the juror pool and will be called into another courtroom for another case, and the process will start again.

If you are picked for a jury, you may or may not be permitted to take notes.  If you are allowed to, it is a good idea, since you won't necessarily know what is important to remember until the end of the trial when the judge gives the instructions.  You will also eventually elect a foreperson.

You probably will not be permitted to begin your deliberations with the other jurors until the close of the evidence.  When you begin, it is probably a good idea to keep an open mind and not to state any opinion too strongly until you all have deliberated for awhile and discussed the facts.  This way, you can more openly consider all of the points of view of the other jury members.  Eventually, you will come to a verdict (hopefully).  If it is a criminal case, the verdict must be unanimous.  If it is a civil case, not necessarily.

Everyone - the judge, attorneys, etc - will be very nice to you because you are performing a valuable public service.  Good for you.

Answer 2

Bring a book or a PSP if you have one. It's most likely going to be a snooze. First off the case may be settled so you won't even get asked questions. Hopefully you'll at least get questioned by the attorneys (might as well get some experience out of it). The only time I did it I waited about two hours, the case was settled before going to trial, they paid me like $20 and that was it. I did break a time record on my Road Rash game though.

...uhhh, oh yeah, what Chairman said.too of course..

Answer 3

Don't be nervous. I just had jury duty a few weeks ago. First you go and sign in with a bunch of other people,I would say on my day there was at least 100 people there. If a case comes up,they will pick a group of people,in my case they picked 40 of us for the first case. From there the 40 of us went to the courtroom where they told us what the case was about. The lawyers will ask questions to everyone such as what you do for a living,and what you spouse does. They will ask questions to see if they feel you would be a fair juror or is you have any prejudices that might influence your decision. They will also ask if you have any hardships that would prevent you from serving if the case lasted a few days.From there they will weed out people till they get to 12. Each lawyer got to cut a certain amount of jurors. I wasn't picked,probably because the plaintiff was disabled and so am I. I'm sure the other lawyer thought I would be sympathetic and cut me right away. If you don't get picked for the jury,you go back and sit with all the other people again to see if another case comes up. Then they would start the process again.

It is quite boring to sit there all day so make sure you bring something to do while you wait. I found it interesting and was glad at least I got picked for the initial 40 so I could see how the court system works. I met some really nice people too.

Answer 4

Preparing for Jury Duty

Jury duty is as important to citizenship as voting  -  maybe more so.  Certainly, a citizen has more influence and power when serving as a juror than as a voter.

It is in the jury room that citizens get to actually influence the system to work toward Americans' highest commonly held political values . . .    the values we pledge to when we pledge allegiance to the flag of the of the United States of America, and the Republic to which it stands:

Liberty and Justice for All

Jury duty is a serious responsibility.

In most civil cases, decisions that juries make in contradiction to the rules laid out by the law and the court can and will be overturned by the judge or the appeals process.  The role of a civil court jury is to do justice in disputes between parties.

The doctrine of jury independence is primarily aimed at protecting individuals from governmental abuse.   That is the domain of criminal trials (and civil trials where government is suing).

So, if you are on a normal civil trial, do the best you can for justice within the directions of the court.

If you are in a criminal trial, in the vast majority of cases, the law will be just, and justly applied, and the jury's role will only to determine guilt or innocence and, if guilty, sentencing.   Once again, the court's instructions will help justice be done.

But, you may actually get on a jury of one of those rare cases where the law is a good one, but is being applied in an unjust way.  Or rarer still, where the law, itself, is unjust or unconstitutional.

That is when you must decide whether to follow the government when it is doing wrong  -  or your conscience.   Or decide to follow the peer pressure of other jurors  -  or your conscience and hang the jury, if you must, to see that justice is done and liberty preserved.

It is when your moral code tells you that what the government is attempting to do in the trial is wrong that you have to remember your role as a juror.  As a juror, you are a representative of the people of your state and the nation.  In America, the people rule.  The judge is your employee and advisor, albeit one to be respected as a learned and powerful.  The judge has spent a lifetime studying the law, and should be given a respectful hearing.   The judge also has the power to put you in jail for certain inappropriate behavior.   But the judge cannot jail you for voting your conscience in the jury room.   That is a power that has been respected for centuries as the essence of what the jury is all about.

One of the major roles of the jury is to serve as a board of directors for the government, reviewing how the employees of the people in the government are doing.  One of your major roles as a juror is to make sure the government does not go too far.  To make sure that liberty and justice for all is maintained.

Review of the law and its application is the reason why the jury system was formed in the first place.  The nobles who forced the king to write jury power into the Magna Carta did not do it because they thought that they were better judges of fact than the court.  They did it as a way to protect themselves from arbitrary application of power by the government.

Because current Texas law allows prospective jurors to be challenged and struck from the jury simply because the citizen is opposed to the law being prosecuted, fully informed and conscientious citizens may have difficulty being seated.  The article below discusses the jury selection process.



Surviving Jury Voir Dire

By Clay S. Conrad

How can FIJA advocates keep from getting kicked off of juries, by the Judge or by the Prosecutor? Frustrated FIJistas regularly report being excluded during voir dire (jury selection). But if our advocates can't get seated on juries, FIJA is limited in its ability to affect the law, or to see justice done in SPITE of the law.

Voir Dire, which is French for "to speak the truth," consists of having the Judge, the Prosecutor and the Defense Attorney each ask the jury a series of questions. It exists for two reasons. For the most basic, it allows the Court to find and eliminate partisans - the Defendant's brother, the arresting officer, etc. Going down the excludability ladder, it allows both sides to challenge jurors for bias, for familiarity with facts or witnesses, etc.

The rules for exclusion of jurors are spelled out in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP). First, FIJA members should realize that some veniremembers are absolutely disqualified. For instance, if a veniremember is under 18, or is not a citizen of Texas, the veniremember may not legally serve. The Court is required to exclude such jurors from service.

More importantly, veniremembers may be challenged FOR CAUSE. These challenges are unlimited in number, and are spelled out in CCP Art. 35.16. A juror may be challenged for cause if he:

1. Is not qualified to vote;

2. Has been convicted of a theft or felony;

3. Is under indictment or other legal accusation for a theft or felony;

4. Is insane;

5. Has "such a defect in the organs of feeling or hearing, or such bodily or mental defect or disease as to render him unfit for jury service, or that he is legally blind, and the Court in its discretion is not satisfied that he is fit for jury service in that particular case";

6. Is a witness in the case;

7. Served on the Grand Jury which indicted the defendant;

8. Served on a Petit Jury in a former trial of the case;

9. Has a bias or prejudice in favor of the State or the Defendant;

10. Has established a conclusion as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant that would influence him in his action in finding a verdict;

11. Cannot read or write;

12. Is related to either the defendant or the victim;

13. In a capital case, has conscientious scruples in regard to the infliction of the death penalty (only to be used by the Prosecution); or

14. Has a bias or prejudice against any of the law applicable to the case.

If the Judge finds the challenge to be good, he MUST exclude the juror. It is not discretionary; failure to exclude will be reversible error.

Additionally, both the Prosecution and the Defense have a limited number of PEREMPTORY CHALLENGES. In a misdemeanor case, both sides have three, in most felonies, ten, and in capital cases, both sides have fifteen. Peremptory challenges may be exercised for any reason or for no reason whatsoever, EXCEPT that they may not be used to exclude women or minorities from the jury merely because of their gender or race. (See CCP 35.261, Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986)). Peremptory challenges are used to "stack" the jury, as well as the attorneys are capable of (they attempt to get people whom they believe are friendly to their side, by excluding the ones they believe will be really bad to their side.)

Many lawyers believe that the intelligent use of peremptory challenges is the most important skill of a good trial lawyer; yet research shows that few lawyers are good at it. Perhaps that is something to be glad about; try as they may, most jurors will not be so plainly "defense" or "prosecution" jurors that voir dire is much better than a c**p shoot.

Answer 5

Wear an offensive T shirt and have fun with the attornys questions . I personally have a blast with their questions and look forward to jury duty . I'm usally home by noon . Bring a good book ...................Acting like you have Torret's is always fun . I would do my duty if they paid me fairly for my time but i got bills to pay.