“Bad Vibes” and Body Language Not Enough
October 27th, 2006
A trial lawyer was prevented from exercising a peremptory strike on an African-American female during voir dire even though the lawyer was getting “bad vibes” from the prospective juror and felt her body language indicated she was not being open and honest in her answers.
In Ruger v. State, 941 So. 2d 1182 (Fla 4 DCA 2006), the Court held that although “body language” can be a race-neutral reason for a strike, the lawyer’s strike in this case did not appear “genuine” because he did not strike other jurors who were exhibiting the same kind of behavior. The Court also held that “bad vibes” are an insufficient reason for a strike because “The case law is clear that a ‘feeling’ about a juror is not a valid, neutral reason to exercise a strike, absent support in the record.”
Entry Filed under: Cognizable Groups,Non-verbal Behavior
1 Comment Add your own
1. James R. Hutchens | October 8th, 2007 at 11:10 am
I recently tried a case where empty containers were introduced into evidence as representations of items that struck my client in the head which resulted in her suffering from seizures. The juror’s took these items back into the juror room and during deliberations filled one of them with water ( in an apparent attempt to simulate the incident) than placed the container in a plastic bag before striking it against a chair. The container split down the middle and the water flew out of the bag. The juror’s rendered a defense verdict. Afterwards the Court advised me that the jurors may have changed the evidence after it left the courtroom . I have filed a Motion to Interview the jury which has been granted and asked for a new trial due to juror misconduct which has been denied pending the interviews. I’m having trouble finding cases on point. Does anyone have a similar case? Please contact me if you have some ideas. Thanks
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