Keep in mind James there are a lot of people called for jury duty that are not as erudite as you. They need the repetition. It is also not uncommon for an attorney to state a set of circumstances that are consistent with the actual facts and then ask: Is there anything at all that you feel uncomfortable about what I've told you .

I try and not ask prospective jurors yes or no questions. Most people want to be "perceived" as being fair even if they really can't be for any number of reasons. There are cases where I doubt I could even be fair. Its normal human nature. So its easy for such a person to simply answer yes or no. I prefer open ended questions like "tell me what an average weekend would look like for you". That has nothing to do with the facts of the case but it opens the person up for a discussion. I.e. "So -you enjoy watching your grandson play youth football"? Tell me how you "feel" about the head injuries we read so much about", Getting jurors to discuss themselves gives me a far better idea about the person. I look for people that I would like to go to dinner with or have a drink with because if I feel that generally the person feels that way about me and thus could be more likely to believe in what I'm saying than someone (hopefully the opposing atty) they don't like. You can't find out who a person really is by asking yes or no questions. When a person says something about themselves I like to follow up with a simple "tell me about that". You would be surprised that once they feel comfortable with you and begin to talk how much you learn about a person.

Having said all that some judges just don't want to take the time for voir dire. They prefer the yes or no stuff. But then you don't really get to know a person. And judges are all different but most will allow you enough time to make an educated decision on whether or not a prospective juror can actually be fair to your client.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2018 01:49PM by waterfield.