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How To Detect Bad Jurors Before They Get To The Courtroom

27 September 2018

Arthur Young

Jury selection process is a very challenging task because you have to ensure that you choose a jury that won't be biased at all. When interviewing the jury candidates, you will be specifically looking to remove bad jurors, who can possibly ruin your case. Here are three things that can help you to deselect an individual before they get to the courtroom.

Applicable Life Experiences

During jury selection, it is important to consider the life experience of the person because it can affect the case at hand. Therefore, it is important to watch out for such people since they can be biased when making their judgement. If such a person depicts strong emotions about the case in relation to their previous experience, then there is a high possibility that they will be biased, and therefore, they should not be allowed in a courtroom. Yes, a juror's experience is important when it comes to cases because it can help in good decision-making. However, if it is from a traumatic event, it not a good thing because it can trigger emotional reactions, which can affect their ability to make a clear-judgement.

Online Activity

The popularity of online activities has greatly transformed the jury selection process. Today, jury selection doesn't entirely depend on the answers the person has given on their questionnaire or during their voir dire interviews.

When interviewing a jury, it is important to check each person's social media activity to see whether they are a good fit for the case. In case you find that a potential juror has been posting and commenting about the case at hand, then they are more likely to be biased and you need to get rid of such people. In addition, you need to investigate each person's profile on social media in order to understand their general worldview, political stance, and lifestyle. This too should give you a good idea whether the person is fit to become a juror for the case or not.

Legal Opinions

Today, many people on the mainstream entertainment talk about the legal system together with its dramatic moments. Because of this, some potential jurors might feel that they have an idea or they already know how a case should be handled.

Some of these people believe that they are the perfect jurors since they have handled many cases and they believe that they will handle the case at hand the same way. However, these people can prove to be stubborn when it comes to deliberations about the judgement. In addition, these people can easily influence other jurors because of their legal knowledge.  

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