The Florida Jury Selection Blog
"Jury selection is a critically important process and that it can be maddeningly difficult. We walk a tightrope over a minefield trying to find jurors who can be truly open-minded; people who will open up their hearts and minds to hear our client’s case. And we know from experience that in order for true justice to prevail, the jury that decides the case must be nothing less than omni exceptione majores—above all challenge."
Author: Author Bob Kelley is the founding partner of the Kelley Uustal Trial Law Firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Blawg Related Categories: Tort Law • Injury & Accident Law • Trials & Litigation • Juries • States • Florida • Solo / Small Firm
Recent Posts from The Florida Jury Selection Blog
-
“Hearing About” Murder Case Not Enough for Cause Challenge
Yesterday the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s denial of a challenge for cause directed at a potential juror in a case involving murder-for-hire. In Samuels v. State, __ So. 2d __…
-
Maximizing The Power of Peremptory Strikes
The law concerning the use of peremptory challenges in jury selection has been changing in recent years. There is a vast difference between Florida law and Federal law in this area. While “Cause is Still…
-
SCOTUS Upholds Verdict of Improper Foreperson
Late last month the United States Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction of a man, Michael Rivera, who was convicted by a jury whose foreperson, Deloris Gomez, was improperly allowed to sit on the jury.…
-
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
During jury selection in a car accident trial, the defense attorney (who had been hired by an insurance company to defend the case), told the jury panel: “I’m a consumer justice attorney, and I represent…
-
Prospective Juror Not “Under Prosecution.”
On the day the jury was sworn - after a week of voir dire - a prospective juror got a traffic ticket. The ticket was for the “crime” of knowingly driving on a suspended license,…
-
“Conflicting Views” Raise a Reasonable Doubt
Today the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a criminal conviction because the trial judge failed to strike for cause a juror who “held conflicting views” on the presumption of innocence. Initially, during jury selection the juror…
-
Update on Juror Pay
The section of The Florida Jury Selection blog dealing with juror pay has been updated thanks to the work of my brilliant law clerk, Kristin Bianculli. One of the most common concerns of potential jurors…
-
U.S. Supreme Court and Racially Discriminatory Strikes
The Supreme Court of the United States reversed a brutal murder conviction yesterday concluding that the prosecutor’s peremptory strike of a black college student appeared to be racially discriminatory. In Snyder v. Louisiana, 128 S.…
-
Ban on Using Nationality to Exclude Jurors is Upheld
This Wednesday’s New York Times reports that a federal district court judge has concluded that allowing American-born blacks on a Bronx jury but systematically excluding West Indian-born blacks from the jury is discriminatory. Federal Judge William H. Pauley III…
-
Whitby Walks
Edgar Sylvester Whitby was prosecuted for permanently disfiguring his victim by throwing hot water on her. He was convicted of aggravated battery ”by a clearly impartial jury” in an “otherwise error free” trial. But Edgar is a free…