Hatfield
Well-Known Member
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- May 3, 2012
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Good point that it is closed due to COVID now. Transcripts and audio are for the courts use. I was shocked to see Wood say that the folks that watched the prelim could be stricken from the jury pool with cause. Never heard of such. With cause just because they watched doesn't seem right to me.
I agree.
JMO
Just because a member of the public is familiar with a case should never be the sole reason to exclude them from being on a jury.
Ive seen at least 2 or 3 examples in real trials where during the jury polling by the lawyers, the potential jury member was asked if they knew about the case and YES they had, and were subsequently asked if they could still be unbiased and could they decide the case solely on the evidence which is presented to them, and their answer was also YES. I recall at least one of them was selected to be on the actual jury.
So just because someone is familiar with a case, it should not be a reason to exclude them from serving on a jury. There would have to be some other compelling reason to do so.