Deselected Juror in Tree of Life Synagogue Trial Reflects on (Draws Pictures About) the Experience
Artist Andrea Shockling specializes in illustrating subjects in a graphic novel style. She sat through jury selection in the trial of the man charged with killing 11 congregants of the Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha, Dor Hadash and New Light congregations in Pittsburgh. She was not selected to serve on the case which is now ongoing. She noticed the jury includes no Black, Hispanic or Jewish jurors, but does include one Asian member. She put her pen to paper and made illustrations of how she feels about that circumstance and experience. Her artistry appears in the New Pittsburgh Courier and PublicSource.org.
Should Voir Dire Questions About Juror Race Be Mandatory?
“No” says a Colorado intermediate appellate court. In People v. Toro-Ospina, the three-judge panel denied the defendant’s argument that the trial judge erred in not to adding a question about race and ethnicity to the statutory set of open-court voir dire questions. The court denied the appeal and reasoned that, since neither the state legislature nor the state supreme court have amended the standard voir dire questions, it is within the sound discretion of the trial court to do so or not. The panel found no abuse of discretion by the judge in denying Mr. Toro-Ospina’s request for a race/ethnicity question. The court also found no error in the trial judge’s denial of defendant’s request for an implicit bias instruction based upon his speaking only in Spanish.
News Station Chronicles Reasons Why Prospective Jurors Were Excused from Murder Trial
Click2Houston.com recounted the reasons five venire members were excused from jury service in a case that has had two previous mistrials. The story expands our understanding of how strikes for cause play out. For example, one citizen predicted the case would impair her health. Another disagreed with the penalty structure for murder. Another, a local journalist, predicted it would be too difficult to avoid “chatter” about the case with her fellow reporters.
Judge’s Investigation Absolves Claim of Juror Misconduct
In People v. Woodard, the defendant appealed from his conviction of conspiracy, criminal sale of a controlled substance, and criminal possession of a controlled substance. Mr. Woodard’s appeal was supported by sworn allegations by two jurors indicating that certain other jurors may have had undisclosed preexisting prejudices against people of defendant’s race that may have affected defendant’s substantial right to an impartial jury and fair trial. The intermediate appellate division affirmed the convictions. Thanks to probing by the trial judge, it was clear the jurors were unanimous in their testimony, none of them had heard a racial slur uttered during deliberations, and most of the jurors did not recall race being discussed. One of the few jurors who recalled conversations about race believed the comments did not have any impact on the verdict, which involved acquittals on various charges against several co- defendants. The remaining jurors provided, at most, ambivalent opinions about the deliberations or the energy in the jury room.
Former Juror Likens Jury Duty to Kindergarten Experience
What happens when a juror is a newspaper reporter and mother of a six-year-old? She (named Abbey Roy and author of a column called “Abbey’s Road”) remembers her kid’s kindergarten days and analogizes those experiences to her jury service in this way:
In those seats, in that courtroom, around that long table, the dozen of us learned basic skills I’ve indeed seen my 6-year-old come away with: Taking turns talking. Walking in line to our seats. Helping one another when we don’t understand. Listening attentively. Being polite. Timing our bathroom breaks wisely.
If the courtroom were the equivalent of the Principal’s Office, I like to think we all held our own in the end. It was at times heart-wrenching and nerve-wracking and adrenaline-jolting, with all these emotions churning in our chests while our faces did their best to remain neutral.
It was an experience I will never forget. Not just because of the case, but because I learned a lesson in the capability of humanity to come together under the banner of justice.
This is no small thing, just like it’s no small thing for a herd of kindergarteners to start a year as strangers and end up as friends.