When thinking about jury selection and the jury process I got thinking about how these lawyers and attorneys use them to their advantage. With this idea in mind I came upon a website where it talks about the art and format of asking jurors questions and how it is important to not only ask well phrased Questions but to make sure these jurors have enough time to think and provide a good elaborate answer. This not only helps the thought process of the juror and gives them insight to what the case is about but also it allows the lawyer to gather information about the types of people that he is going to be presenting his case to. This information about the jurors is important because it unveils some underlying behaiors, attitudes, and perspectives the jurors might have; and hoe they feel about this particular case.
Example: the defended is going to argue that his client was a victim of wrongful or mistaken identity. He asks jurors the question...have you ever been a victim of mistaken identity? This question does two things: it presents the defendants perspective on the case and it plants the idea in the jurors head a time they had been wrongfully convicted of a crime or another situation promoting empathy for the defendant. Another thing an interviewer needs to do in addition to asking thought provoking questions is to give them enough time to answer the questions.
The author of this website outlines seven steps to making sure you are giving the jurors enough time to think:
1. Ask the question of the entire panel (and tell them how they
should respond): "By show of hands, has anyone here ever been
wrongfully accused of something?"
2. Show them how to respond: While asking the question, raise
your own hand in the air. (Telling them how to respond and then showing
them how to respond will encourage greater responses.)
3. Pause. Don't rush it. Mentally count to 10
or so before you even think about saying anything else or moving to
another topic.
4. Look 'em in the eyes. While you're pausing, make
eye contact with several jurors and use the power of your eye contact to
encourage responses. Keep an eye out for the ones who look like they'd
like to respond, but haven't made up their minds yet.
5. Nobody volunteered? Pick on someone. Actually,
pick about 3-4 people, from different parts of the room, and ask them directly:
"Mrs. Jones, have you ever been wrongfully accused of
something?" By asking them directly, sometimes you'll prompt a better
response. (A good place to start is with the people who looked like they wanted
to respond, but didn't raise their hand.)
6. Ask the entire panel again. Even if no one
responds to your individual questions, it's not a waste of time, because you're
giving the other jurors time to finish thinking their way through your
question. Now that they've had enough time to finish thinking, ask the
entire panel once again, perhaps adding a bit of a challenge to your question:
"Really? No one here has ever been wrongfully accused of
anything?"
7. Pause (again). Look 'em in the eyes (again). Hopefully, this will prompt any hold-outs into answering the question. If not, consider rephrasing the question, or moving on to another topic. At least you'll know that you didn't cut off anyone's thought process and prevent them from answering.
If you are interested there are more links on this website that elaborate on information regarding questions and answer sessions with jurors and other variables in the process
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