Study: Jury pool racial makeup has effect on convictions 
Published: April 25, 2012
Tags: juries, jurors, juyr pools
A study has revealed that the racial makeup of the pool from which juries are selected influences conviction rates – and that having even one African-American member in the pool from which a jury is drawn nearly eliminates the difference.
Prosecutors seek to check criminal history of jurors
Published: January 27, 2012
Tags: American Civil Liberties Union, background check, Batson, juries, jurors
Prosecutors in New Jersey are asking a court for the birth dates of all potential jurors for purposes of running criminal history checks on them.
Study: Jurors struggle with reckless, knowing conduct
Published: January 12, 2012
Tags: juries, jurors, knowing conduct, Model Penal Code, reckless conduct
A new study has found that jurors often struggle with how to distinguish reckless or knowing conduct on the part of defendants.
Tweeting and napping jurors give defendant new trial
Published: December 16, 2011
Tags: juries, jurors, social media, Twitter
A capital murder defendant is entitled to a new trial based on a juror who fell asleep and another who tweeted during the trial.
Hearing-impaired juror couldn’t serve in rape case
Published: November 17, 2011
Tags: dismissal for cause, jurors
A hearing-impaired juror could be dismissed for cause based on concerns that he would have difficulty hearing the testimony of a child rape victim, New York’s highest court has ruled in affirming a conviction.
Defendant can’t get new trial despite sleeping juror
Published: October 31, 2011
Tags: jurors
A defendant was not deprived of his right to a fair and impartial jury even though one of the jurors at his robbery trial fell asleep on two consecutive days, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
Speaking with jurors post-trial can yield invaluable lessons
By:
Correy Stephenson
Published: October 18, 2011
Tags: jurors, jury, witnesses
After spending the length of a trial staring at a group of strangers who hold the fate of a client in their hands, the last thing lawyers may want to do is sit down and chat with the jury.
But getting jurors’ take on the trial – from the persuasiveness of a closing argument to the credence of testimony – can be invaluable.
Calif. jurors face jail time for social media use during trial
Published: August 16, 2011
Tags: criminal contempt, Facebook, juries, jurors, jury instructions, social media, Twitter
Jurors in California face the possibility of jail time if they violate a new rule prohibiting them from engaging in social media during trial or deliberations.
When jurors zone out
By:
Sylvia Hsieh
Published: July 27, 2011
Tags: ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, attention-deficit disorder, juries, jurors, voir dire
If you notice a juror staring off into the vaulted courtroom ceiling during your carefully planned trial, you may have a juror with attention-deficit disorder.
Seven simple steps for picking better juries in short order
By:
Richard Gabriel
Published: July 5, 2011
Tags: juries, jurors, jury selection, voir dire
While much has been written and discussed about jury selection, the truth is, we make it much more complicated than it needs to be.
Lawyers USA Columnist Richard Gabriel suggests a few basic steps to simplify the process.
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