jury selection

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Court Orders No-Show Juror to Hold Sign

'I failed to appear for jury duty,' it reads

(Newser) - A 22-year-old Indiana man skipped out on jury duty last month, and everyone who came to the courthouse this morning knows it: As punishment for leaving jury selection early on Dec. 5 without permission, the unnamed man was ordered by a judge to carry a sign reading "I failed...

Lawyers Use Facebook to Pick Jurors

They vet candidates based on their likes and dislikes online

(Newser) - Here's the latest way Facebook is changing life as we know it: Lawyers snooping for extra information on potential jurors have been looking them up on the site, the Wall Street Journal reports. "It's a waterfall of information, compared to the pinhole view you used to get," says...

Blacks Regularly Excluded From Southern Juries

All-white juries in majority black counties

(Newser) - In the Deep South, DAs strike black college graduates from juries for "low intelligence," black 28-year-olds for being "too young," and black 43-year-olds for being "too old." A new study by the non-profit Equal Justice Initiative finds that potential black jurors are routinely excluded...

Jurors Dodge Duty Amid Financial Fears

Citizens point to recession, unemployment in bid for dismissal

(Newser) - Jury duty has always been a pain, but the tough economy is prompting more and more Americans to ditch their civic responsibility, the New York Times reports. While exact figures aren’t available, officials report that jurors increasingly cite financial worries in bids to get out of duty. “I...

'Rockefeller' Trial Sparks Identity Crisis

Defendant's name(s) at issue as jury readies for kidnapping case

(Newser) - A Boston court saw the selection yesterday of 11 of the 16 jurors needed to begin the trial of Clark Rockefeller. Or of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter. Or of "the defendant," as the judge calls him. The mystery man is on trial for kidnapping his daughter, and because he's...

'Rockefeller' Jury Selection Begins

Gerhartsreiter to be called only 'the defendant' at trial

(Newser) - Jury selection has started in the kidnapping trial of a German man long called Clark Rockefeller, the Boston Herald reports. But he won’t be going by that name in the trial—in fact, most won’t call him anything but “the defendant.” He was indicted as Christian...

Astor Trial Crawls as Lawyers Squabble

Would-be jurors plan for 3-month commitment

(Newser) - As the second week of jury selection in the Brooke Astor trial began today, with potential jurors being asked if they can sit still for a 3-month trial, the judge upbraided the lawyers for bickering and grandstanding as if they never wanted it to end, the New York Times reports....

Supreme Court Won't Hear Mumia's Appeal

Abu-Jamal says was convicted by biased jury in 1981 cop death

(Newser) - Mumia Abu-Jamal has lost his bid for a new trial in the 1981 killing of a police officer, the AP reports. The Supreme Court said today it won’t take up Abu-Jamal's claims that prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from the jury that convicted him of murdering a Philadelphia policeman. The...

Astor Case Jury Selection a Quiz Show

Son charged with stealing from socialite gets hostile welcome

(Newser) - The trial of Brooke Astor’s son is becoming something of a circus—and it hasn't even started. In the courtroom, Anthony Marshall's lawyers are using a lengthy questionnaire to screen potential jurors who will determine whether he exploited his socialite mother's deteriorating mental and physical condition, the New York ...

'Baby Grace' Jury Selection Set to Start

Outpouring of community sympathy could complicate process

(Newser) - Jury selection is set to begin tomorrow for the capital murder trial of 20-year-old Kimberly Dawn Trenor, accused—along with husband Royce Clyde Zeigler II—of beating her 2-year-old daughter Riley Ann Sawyers to death in July 2007. After volunteer searchers helped in the agonizing investigation, some fear that community...

Jurors: Secret Tapes Sank OJ
 Jurors: Secret Tapes Sank OJ 
Oct 6, 2008 8:22 AM CDT

Jurors: Secret Tapes Sank OJ

Recordings helped prosecution overcome unreliable witnesses, they say

(Newser) - It was OJ Simpson’s own words—caught on secret recording—that sealed his fate, jurors told the media yesterday. The defense succeeded in discrediting the prosecution’s witnesses, they said, but the tapes, on which Simpson can be heard planning and carrying out the robbery, were key in their...

Jury Selection Turns to Facebook, Blogs, Data

Experts mine online profiles for background on jurors' views

(Newser) - Get called for jury duty these days, and you can expect attorneys to know a lot more about you than they let on. Trial consultants who used to specialize in legwork—visiting neighbors and friends to gather clues to potential jurors' views—are now expert Web surfers, tracing things like...

All-White Jury Will Judge OJ
 All-White Jury Will Judge OJ 
Sep 12, 2008 8:40 AM CDT

All-White Jury Will Judge OJ

(Newser) - Nine women and three men will make up the jury in OJ Simpson’s trial for kidnapping and armed robbery —but none of them are black, the Los Angeles Times reports. The prosecution dismissed two black candidates, one from the jury and another from the pool of alternates, but...

Judge in Gitmo Driver Trial Nixes Interrogation Evidence

Afghanistan questioning of Hamdan came after stress, without lawyer: defense

(Newser) - A military judge at the war-crimes tribunal for Osama bin Laden’s alleged driver today barred evidence from a series of 2002 interrogations in Afghanistan, the Miami Herald reports. Salim Hamdan says he was subjected to sleep deprivation and was not offered a lawyer; his defense team wants all interrogations...

How to Avoid R. Kelly Jury Duty

Twelve foolproof ways to not get picked

(Newser) - R. Kelly's jury is complete, and the arduous process of getting it filled contains a lesson: Should you ever be called upon to weigh in at a child pornography trial, the Chicago Tribune offers some proven ways—at least they worked in this case— to avoid getting trapped in the...

Supreme Court Overturns La. Death Sentence

Blacks wrongly blocked from jury in case compared to OJ

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a former Marine awaiting execution on Louisiana's death row. Allen Snyder, an African-American, was convicted of fatally stabbing his estranged wife and her boyfriend, but the court ruled 7-2 that prosecutors acted improperly by using its challenges to seat an all-white...

Rezko Corruption Trial Begins
Rezko Corruption Trial Begins
Mar 3, 2008 9:19 AM CST

Rezko Corruption Trial Begins

Jury selection gets under way for accused Chicago businessman with ties to governor, Obama

(Newser) - With jury selection beginning for the corruption trial of Chicago businessman and political fundraiser Tony Rezko, the Chicago Sun-Times offers some background on the key facets of the case. Rezko, a Syrian-born real estate and fast-food tycoon who established footholds in the Illinois governor's circles, is accused of pocketing illegal...

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