8 Preparing for Trial

Question 1

Why do we have trials?

Answer 1

• Search for the truth
• A test of credibility
• Conflict-resolving ritual

Question 2

What does the jury serve as a purpose? (3)

Answer 2

• Fact Finder
• “Conscience of the community”
• Protection

Question 3

What are the requirements in Canada for Jury selection?

Answer 3

• Be 19 years of age
• Be a canadian citizen
• Be a resident of the province
  that served you.
• Have not been convicted of a
  serious offense.
• Be physically able to perform
  duties.
• Can speak an official language
  of Canada

Question 4

The pool of jury selection must represent a cross section of the community. Why?

Answer 4

• It makes juries more hetero-
  genous. More diverse.
• The larger the panel, the more
  members of smaller religious
  and ethnic groups there are on
  the jury.

Question 5

Does having a cross section of the community as a jury help?

Answer 5

Yes. Groups composed of diverse

people are better problem-solvers than those who share the same background.

Question 6

Why is it a good thing that the Jury give the appearance of legitimacy (by being diverse.)?

Answer 6

The jury should reflect the standards of the community. If there are certain parts excluded, the community is likely to reject both the legal process and it’s outcomes.

Question 7

How do you get chosen to participate in a jury?

Answer 7

Your name gets drawn at random from the voter’s list.

Question 8

What happens if you get a letter saying you are picked for jury duty?

Answer 8

You must complete the Jury Certification Form and return within 10 days of receiving your summons.

Question 9

Who is exempt from serving jury duty?

Answer 9

- Police officers, lawyers, trustee
  in bankruptcy, employee of the
  ministry of Attorney General, a
  person convicted of certain 
  criminal offences within the last
  five years.

Question 10

If you are exempt and are chosen, what do you do?

Answer 10

Mail a copy of your birth certificate, note of occupation, job title and department to the sheriff’s office.

Question 11

Do we take part in litigation consulting and jury “manipulation” in Canada?

Answer 11

No. But the United States does.

Question 12

What does the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) ensure about Jury selection?

Answer 12

That the supreme court ensures juries are unbiased. There are random samples of citizens and the criminal code provides a means to challenge jurors.

Question 13

Why is there limited research in jury decisions?

Answer 13

Not allowed to observe jury decision making in real cases or interview jurors about their decisions.

Question 14

What happens before the trial starts?

Answer 14

• Discovery
• Written Interrogatories
• Depositions

Question 15

What does discovery mean?

Answer 15

Gathering statements by witnesses, police records, documents, material possessions, expert’s opinions, etc.

Question 16

What is it called when the verdict is decided by a judge?

Answer 16

Bench trial

Question 17

When can a bench trial happen?

Answer 17

In criminal trials if the opposing party consents they can choose to have a bench trial instead of a jury trial.

Question 18

What did Eisenberg et al. (2005) find about data collected from jurors, judges and attorneys?

Answer 18

• 350 trials
• The rate of jury/judge
  agreement was 70%. When
  there was a disagreement, the
  juries became more lenient.
• Judges and juries did not differ
  substantially, but these results
  call into question the notion that
  juries are unable to set reason-
  able limits on punitive damages.

Question 19

What does “venire” mean?

Answer 19

Forming a panel of prospective jurors.

Question 20

What does the supreme court forbid about jurys?

Answer 20

The systematic and intentional exclusion of religious, racial and other groups from jury panels.

Question 21

Historically, what population usually made up these venires?

Answer 21

Middle-aged, well-educated white males.

Question 22

How many qualified jurors ignore jury summons, even though doing so constitutes a violation of law?

Answer 22

• About half

Question 23

What is the voir dire process?

Answer 23

To determine if the prospective jurors are prejudice, the judge / attorneys question prospective jurors.

Question 24

Can the attorneys ask the jurors anything they want in a voir dire?

Answer 24

Who asks, what questions, how the questions are phrased, how long the questioning goes on is all up to the judges discretion.

Question 25

What is a limited form of voir dire?

Answer 25

Involves yes or no questions asked by the judge and answered by the group.

Question 26

What is the problem with limited form of voir dire?

Answer 26

Yes or no questions offer little insight into jurors’ beliefs and attitudes. Many may be hesitant to publicly state their biases.

Question 27

Social desirability effect.

Answer 27

look up in text.

Question 28

What is an extended voir dire?

Answer 28

Judges and attorneys ask open-ended questions and question jurors individually.

Question 29

What are the advantages of extended voir dires?

Answer 29

Open ended questions encourage jurors to talk more about their feelings and experiences. Individual questioning can result in disclosures that jurors might not otherwise offer.

Question 30

Why do most courts not use extended voir dires?

Answer 30

They take a long time.

Question 31

What is a typical voir dire procedure like? (limited or extended)

Answer 31

Involve a compromise between the two versions. They ask group questions, but have brief follow-up questions of selected individuals.

Question 32

What are the two mechanisms by which panelists are excluded from serving on a jury?

Answer 32

1) Challenge for cause

2) Peremptory challenge

Question 33

What is “challenge for cause?”

Answer 33

In any trial, each side can claim that particular jurors should be excluded because they are biased (have a relationship with one of the parties)
*Each side has an unlimited number of challenges for cause.

Question 34

What is “Peremptory Challenge?”

Answer 34

Each side may exclude a designated number of prospective jurors without a reason stated. The number allowed varies by jurisdiction, type of case and seriousness of the charge.

Question 35

What is the purpose of the peremptory challenge? (multiple)

Answer 35

• Allow attorneys to challenge potential jurors who they believe are unsympathetic to their client.
• Allow those in a lawsuit to play a role in selecting the people who decide the outcome, thus they may be more satisfied with that outcome.
• Allow the attorney to “coach” prospective jurors and influence those who will make up the jury.

Question 36

What can peremptory challenges not be based on?

Answer 36

Solely on a jurors race or gender.

Question 37

What is an implicit personality theory? Is this legitimate?

Answer 37

A peron’s organized network of preconceptions about how certain attributes are related to one another and to behaviour.
Not legitimate.

Question 38

What are jurors personality/attitude characteristics as predictors of verdicts?

Answer 38

Research suggests that enduring aspects of one’s personality (ex: authoritarianism, extraversion) may influence courtroom decisions. This is usually only to a modest degree.

Question 39

What is the similarity-leniency hypothesis?

Answer 39

A strategy of jury selection based on the assumption that jurors who are demographically or socially similar to the litigant will be predisposed to favour that litigant.

Question 40

What is the black sheep effect?

Answer 40

People may sanction those who reflect negatively on and embarrass the in-group.

Question 41

Do Juror’s demographic characteristics predict verdicts?

Answer 41

They are sometimes related. However, the correlations are weak and inconsistent.

Question 42

Do slide

Answer 42

26.