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Picking the Right Jury

by Bob Betzen

oldjury.jpgPeople wonder how top notch defense attorneys can overcome overwhelming evidence to keep their clients out of prison. Picking gullible jurors helps. When all the evidence points to your client’s guilt, you don’t want Cum Laude types on the panel. So lawyers use voir dire to dismiss unsuitable potential jurors without giving a reason.

Attorneys may also seek a change of venue in order to draw from a different jury pool. This shifts the trial to another county, where residents may have a more lax attitude about certain offenses.

Our juries are composed of carefully selected individuals with little to no training in evaluating evidence, applying legal precedence or even working with others in a courtroom setting. These groups then determine the fate of the most dangerous people in our society.

Before trials even begin, attorneys hire jury consultants to help them find just the right candidates, the ones that will tip the balance in their favor. It can take only one juror holding out to force a mistrial. Then the prosecutor has to bring charges all over again. Very wealthy defendants will spare no expense to obtain a favorable verdict. In America, that includes picking the right jurors.

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Posted in A Jury of Professionals on August 21st, 2007

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If you want to find criticism of our government here in America, you won’t need to look far. When it comes to politics, it seems that everyone has a grievance. Radical Avenue on the other hand, takes a solutions oriented approach to public policy. It’s radical because I’m proposing fundamental changes to the structure of our government, like transferring commander in chief responsibilities to a small elected group. My philosophy is: Everyone knows we’ve got problems, so what are we going to do about it?

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