http://www.juryblog.com The Cure For The Common Voir Dire Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:05:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en During jury selection in a car accident trial, the defense attorney (who had been hired by an insurance company to defend the case), told the jury panel: "I'm a consumer justice attorney, and I represent John Hooks, a merchant marine, not some fancy company, not some conglomerate." The plaintiff's attorney ... http://www.juryblog.com/a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/ On the day the jury was sworn - after a week of voir dire - a prospective juror got a traffic ticket. The ticket was for the "crime" of knowingly driving on a suspended license, a second-degree misdemeanor. No one in the courtroom on that day asked her about it. ... http://www.juryblog.com/prospective-juror-not-under-prosecution/ Today the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a criminal conviction because the trial judge failed to strike for cause a juror who "held conflicting views" on the presumption of innocence. Initially, during jury selection the juror stated "he's guilty until proven innocent," but later said "I think it was a misunderstanding ... http://www.juryblog.com/conflicting-views-raise-a-reasonable-doubt/ The section of The Florida Jury Selection blog dealing with juror pay has been updated thanks to the work of my brilliant law clerk, Kristin Bianculli. One of the most common concerns of potential jurors during voir dire is whether they will get paid while they are serving on a ... http://www.juryblog.com/update-on-juror-pay/ The Supreme Court of the United States reversed a brutal murder conviction yesterday concluding that the prosecutor's peremptory strike of a black college student appeared to be racially discriminatory. In Snyder v. Louisiana, 552 U.S. __ (2008) the Court held, in a 7 - 2 decision written by Justice Samuel Alito, that ... http://www.juryblog.com/us-supreme-court-and-racially-discriminatory-strikes/ This Wednesday's New York Times reports that a federal district court judge has concluded that allowing American-born blacks on a Bronx jury but systematically excluding West Indian-born blacks from the jury is discriminatory. Federal Judge William H. Pauley III concluded that prospective black jurors cannot be excluded  from jury service because of their national ... http://www.juryblog.com/ban-on-using-nationality-to-exclude-jurors-is-upheld/ Edgar Sylvester Whitby was prosecuted for permanently disfiguring his victim by throwing hot water on her. He was convicted of aggravated battery "by a clearly impartial jury" in an "otherwise error free" trial. But Edgar is a free man today, and the Supreme Court of Florida just turned down the State's appeal of this ... http://www.juryblog.com/whitby-walks/ A $900,000 plaintiff's verdict in a rear-end collision case was reinstated last Friday by the Fifth District Court of Appeal even though two jurors had failed to disclose in voir dire that they had been injured and received medical treatment as a result of prior car accidents. During jury selection, plaintiff's ... http://www.juryblog.com/prudent-probing-during-jury-selection/ This week, in Rodriguez v. Lagomasino, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed a defense verdict in an auto accident case because the trial judge failed to strike two questionable jurors for cause. During voir dire, prospective Juror Gutierrez said he would not favor either side and would be "in the ... http://www.juryblog.com/cause-challenges-for-caps-on-damages-and-rising-insurance-rates/ The Harris Corporation released a poll on jury duty yesterday. Harris Poll on Jury Duty. The poll contains some interesting findings on who is most likely to show up for jury duty and actually end up serving on a jury. It also shows that Americans, by a factor of 2 ... http://www.juryblog.com/harris-releases-poll-on-jury-duty/