Topic: General Voir Dire

It really happened. After finishing his testimony, a key witness had lunch in the courthouse cafeteria with a juror on the case during the trial. He later told the Court their conversation did not include anything about the case. The Trial Court expressed multiple concerns but did not declare a mistrial.  The Appellate Court reversed noting the potential prejudice to the defendant from the improper contact, i.e. “none of us have […]

The Supreme Court has authorized the use of a revised preliminary jury instruction to be given by the Court to the jury before the start of voir dire. The revised instruction (FSJI 1.0) is much more verbose and will be less helpful in selecting a jury than the earlier version. It repeatedly uses the hackneyed phrase “fair and impartial” and eliminates the prior and better language of the earlier version requesting jurors to inform the Court and counsel of their “personal opinions” and “strong feelings.”

It was fifty years ago last month that Marilyn Burch Fagan was found dead by her husband on the walkway of their home near rural Gainesville. Her husband, Osee Fagan, the County Prosecutor, was involved in the prosecution of a deaf mute, Philip Singer. Returning home near midnight from a late night at the office, he found his wife’s body in the darkness of their front yard underneath the bright starlit country skies. His […]

In a case of first impression, the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that Muslims and/or Pakistanis are members of an “ethnic” group protected from invidious discrimination during jury selection.