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Issue Date: September 9, 2007
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5 things
you need to
know about |
Jury duty
1. Being called doesn't mean you will sit on a jury. James A. Tanford, a law professor at Indiana University in Bloomington, says prospective jurors are questioned about their backgrounds, feelings and familiarity with the case being tried. They will be excused if they have been exposed to pretrial publicity, already have formed an opinion, are related to one of the participants, have strong feelings about the case or otherwise cannot be fair and impartial. This is called removal "for cause." The attorneys also have the right to remove other jurors they fear might be biased against their client for almost any reason, except race or racism. These are called peremptory challenges and are limited in number.
2. Don't do any investigation on your own. You are required to decide the case at hand based only on the evidence and law presented to you.
3. Have realistic expectations. The attorneys and witnesses are not actors, so they might not be as good as the ones you see on TV. Today, jurors often have a distorted impression of what trials and police investigations are like. Lawyers call this the "CSI" effect: Jurors expect detailed and conclusive forensic and DNA evidence in every case, even though that is not the norm.
4. You can ask questions. During deliberation, jurors can ask for clarification if they don't understand something.
5. Bring a novel, a deck of cards or a puzzle book. There might be long periods of time when you do nothing.
-- Judy Mandell
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