The art of jury selection
Ronald Wright, New York Times:
The complaining witnesses were Navy pilots who had recently been freed from North Vietnam who were stationed at the Kingsville Naval Air Station. The defendant was a former Marine who falsely claimed that he had been a POW in Korea. He was selling bonds out of Ft. Lauderdale.
The jury pool was a mix of the community made up of Hispanics and Anglos and a few blacks. Among those finally selected was a foreman from the historic King Ranch which was near the town. We also chose a black woman who worked at a welfare agency. While I wondered if she would be sympathetic to the accused, I found I had nothing to worry about.
The courtroom in the old courthouse in Kingsville was huge with a balcony as I recall. The jury room was across the hall from the courtroom. They took a short time to reach their verdict. As I was walking down the hall I heard this woman shouting to the other jurors "Give him the max." The did. It was the first time anyone had gotten the maximum sentence for securities fraud in the state of Texas.
I do not recall ever excluding someone from a jury because of race. While securities cases can involve complex legal issues, I always tried to structure the case so the issues were inarguable. After I got that verdict I got several guilty pleas because the lawyers representing the accused understood there was little chance of getting an acquittal.
Yes, Jury Selection Is as Racist as You ThinkI think lawyers look for jurors who will be fair. I recall one of my bigger cases was a trial in Kingsville, Texas of a defendant who was accused of defrauding returning POW's out of their back pay with the sell of some zero coupon bonds that were of little value.
The complaining witnesses were Navy pilots who had recently been freed from North Vietnam who were stationed at the Kingsville Naval Air Station. The defendant was a former Marine who falsely claimed that he had been a POW in Korea. He was selling bonds out of Ft. Lauderdale.
The jury pool was a mix of the community made up of Hispanics and Anglos and a few blacks. Among those finally selected was a foreman from the historic King Ranch which was near the town. We also chose a black woman who worked at a welfare agency. While I wondered if she would be sympathetic to the accused, I found I had nothing to worry about.
The courtroom in the old courthouse in Kingsville was huge with a balcony as I recall. The jury room was across the hall from the courtroom. They took a short time to reach their verdict. As I was walking down the hall I heard this woman shouting to the other jurors "Give him the max." The did. It was the first time anyone had gotten the maximum sentence for securities fraud in the state of Texas.
I do not recall ever excluding someone from a jury because of race. While securities cases can involve complex legal issues, I always tried to structure the case so the issues were inarguable. After I got that verdict I got several guilty pleas because the lawyers representing the accused understood there was little chance of getting an acquittal.
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