1.10 Jury Selection

When the parties cannot settle a case, it will proceed to trial and jury selection. In a process known as venire, the clerk of the court issues a summons to potential jurors to appear before the court for jury duty. Jurors who are otherwise not excused are subject to a voir dire examination by the judge and the lawyers for the parties to determine potential juror impartiality or qualification for jury duty. Jurors may be excluded for cause when it is obvious they cannot serve impartially due to a relationship with one of the parties or an interest in the proceedings. Jurors may also be released from service due to a preemptory challenge. A preemptory challenge occurs when a party removes a juror from jury service without giving a reason. The idea is to give each side power to excuse jurors who may say the right thing during voir dire but who privately harbor a bias. The number of preemptory challenges is limited by statute. Race and gender may not be used as the basis for juror exclusion for either cause or preemptory challenge. The idea behind voir dire and juror challenges is that if the parties participate in the configuration of the jury each will find the ultimate verdict more acceptable.

Juries generally consist of 6 or 12 jurors, with alternates, depending on the nature of the case. Once the jury has been selected, it is said to be impaneled. Sometimes, if the case is very important or controversial, a jury may be sequestered, wherein each juror is separated from family, jobs, and the community for the duration of the trial. Sometimes jurors are even prevented from reading newspapers or watching the news on television. One of the longest sequestrations of a jury was for 54 weeks in a 1973 defense contractor case in California.