Q.: I was injured in an automobile accident caused by another person. If my case proceeds to trial, can I expect a jury to decide my case?
A.: Such a case will be presented to a jury if any party requests a jury. Otherwise, the case will be tried to a judge. In certain types of cases, however, a jury is not allowed. Generally, a jury trial is not available when the facts of the case are not disputed and the only question is how the law applies to agreed-upon facts about how the injury occurred. A jury can almost always be requested, however, when the question has to do with the amount of damages (compensation) to be awarded.

Q.: How is a jury selected?
A.: A group of potential jurors is summoned to court and placed on a jury panel or "venire." The judge puts the potential jurors under oath and permits the jury selection process to begin. Potential jurors are then asked questions. In some courts, the judge allows the attorneys to question the prospective jurors, while in others, the judge asks the questions.

Q.: Why are prospective jurors questioned?
A.: Jurors are questioned to ensure that they will be fair and impartial, and to reveal any possible biases they may have. For example, a juror may be related to a party in the case, be familiar with attorneys or witnesses in the case, have first-hand knowledge of the incident which prompted the lawsuit, or too strongly identify with or be biased against one side of the lawsuit based upon the juror's own personal background.

While preparing for trial, attorneys collect a lot of evidence. Therefore, potential jurors may be asked about what kind of information they are likely to use in making decisions. Their answers help attorneys to decide what evidence to present and what evidence not to present during the trial to help the jurors make decisions. Also, there may be too much information to be heard by jurors in a three-day trial. The court will want jurors available for the entire trial and the attorneys do not want jurors to resent their clients if a trial lasts longer than the jurors reasonably expect.

Q.: Can jury selection be used to find jurors who may be more sympathetic to a particular side?
A.: To a degree, yes. Since the attorneys for both parties are advocating for their clients' positions, they hope to seat jurors who can identify with those positions. Attorneys do not actually select juries, however. Instead, they remove jurors who may not be fair and impartial in the particular case, due to their associations or due to their beliefs. Attorneys from both sides may challenge an unlimited number of jurors who, for obvious reasons, cannot be presumed fair and impartial. Such jurors, removed "for cause," would include those who are related to a party or are witnesses in the case or whose beliefs may prevent them from following the jury instructions.

Also, each side's attorney is allowed to remove three jurors without stating a reason. Attorneys use these "peremptory challenges" to remove jurors who, they suspect, will be unsympathetic to their client's case due to their backgrounds or expressed beliefs. Because the attorneys of both parties can remove biased or unsympathetic jurors, the result is, in theory, a fair, evenly balanced, and impartial jury. Some jurors' backgrounds certainly make them more inclined to view evidence in favor of one side or another. For example, the Republicans and Democrats certainly viewed former President Clinton's past conduct differently. A competent attorney would be aware of these and other predispositions and use that knowledge in jury selection.

3/2/2008

Law You Can Use is a weekly consumer legal information column provided by the Ohio State Bar Association. This article was prepared by Joseph W. O'Neil of Arthur, O'Neil, Mertz, Michel & Brown Co., L.P.A., Defiance, Ohio.