http://www.juryblog.com The Cure For The Common Voir Dire Sat, 12 Apr 2008 13:07:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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/index.php/2008/04/02/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/index.php/2008/03/20/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/index.php/2008/03/05/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/index.php/2008/02/19/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/index.php/2008/02/12/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/index.php/2008/01/26/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/index.php/2008/01/22/harris-releases-poll-on-jury-duty/ A jury in Miami awarded $3.9 million to the mother of a young woman who was killed by a drunk driver. After the verdict, the State Farm defense attorneys found out for the first time that the jury foreman's father had been an alcoholic. They asked for a new trial alleging that the foreman had concealed this important information ... http://www.juryblog.com/index.php/2008/01/17/a-clear-direct-question/ Last week, in Algie v. Lennar Corp., the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed a defense verdict in a slip and fall case. A juror had told the lawyers during jury selection that although he wouldn't have any problem "serving fairly" if chosen, he believed that in every slip and fall case the ... http://www.juryblog.com/index.php/2007/11/19/voir-dire-and-comparative-fault/ A defense verdict in a medical malpractice case was set aside due to a juror's failure to disclose nine prior civil lawsuits and a criminal case in response to a written jury questionnaire. Dr. Sohail Delfani, shown smiling in this picture, is probably not very happy with his lawyers who ... http://www.juryblog.com/index.php/2007/11/02/mmp-defense-verdict-thrown-out-due-to-juror-concealment-2/