Jury Selection essays

Jury Selection essays In order to understand how important jury selection is, one must first understand the process of the selection. 0n the day of the trial, there may be as many as one hundred and fifty jurors called for examination and selection. Out of that one hundred and fifty, twelve will be selected as the jurors to try the case, with two alternates. The hundred and fifty called, however, represented only a small percentage of the number of persons eligible for jury service. The one hundred and fifty, or smaller or greater number called for a particular case are referred to as the panel, and are selected from the jury lists of the County or Federal district in which the Court is located. Local laws, rules or regulations usually determine the number of jurors whose names are to be maintained on the jury list. The names on the jury list are usually selected from the registered and qualified voters, and the list checked at regular intervals to replace those who have died, moved away, or for some other reason become ineligible. Citizens who are selected for the jury list may be selected merely by having their names taken from the list of qualified voters, and being summoned to appear on a particular day, or they may be requested to appear at the office of the Clerk of Court to answer questions, or to complete a questionnaire. In states and localities where there is a preliminary questionnaire or inquiry any juror who is disqualified, or exempt may state his reason for being excused and thus avoid being called again. Where there is no preliminary inquiry, the notice is mailed or observed by the sheriff, and on the return day the juror may state his reason for being excused. In some states the trial of complicated or difficult cases may be held before a Special Panel or Blue Ribbon jury. In New York for example, the Special Panels are used for murder cases, and the number of names to be included on a Speci...