"Never forget, almost every case has been won or lost when the jury is sworn." - Clarence Darrow 1936
"The change of a single juror in the composition of the jury could change the result." - Ter Keurst v. Miami Elevator Co., 486 So. 2d 547 (Fla. 1986), Justice Adkins, Dissenting
"Trial by jury is the best of all safeguards for the person and property of every individual." - Thomas Jefferson
The law concerning the use of peremptory challenges in jury selection has been changing in recent years. There is a vast difference between Florida law and Federal law in this area. While “Cause is Still King,” the effective use of peremptory challenges can make or break the outcome of a trial. As Justice Adkins wrote in the seminal case of Ter Keurst v. Miami Elevator Company, 486 So. 2d 547 […]
April 20, 2009
Late last month the United States Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction of a man, Michael Rivera, who was convicted by a jury whose foreperson, Deloris Gomez, was improperly allowed to sit on the jury. Rivera v. Illinois, 556 U.S. __ (2009). During jury selection, Rivera’s attorney properly attempted to use one of his peremptory strikes against Gomez, but the trial judge wrongfully refused to allow the strike, erroneously believing […]
April 15, 2009
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 immediately objected and moved for a mistrial since the defense attorney had been hired by Hook’s insurance company. The trial […]
September 17, 2008
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. She didn’t tell anyone about it. And she ended up serving on the jury that convicted Jason Tucker of premeditated […]
June 23, 2008
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 earlier…,” and then went on to state “I can be fair and impartial.” The Court looked at the entirety of the juror’s […]
June 18, 2008
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