I wrote a book called HOW TO GET OUT OF JURY DUTY, copyright 2006, but was unable to get it published. The worldwide rights are still available if you want to buy it.
Picking juries is part of what I do for a living. It’s fun. My theory on picking juries is I try to engage each individual potential juror in a brief conversation. i try to see if this is a person who is reachable, human, open to dialogue, open to ideas. If so, i don’t care if their wife’s a cop or they think judges are too soft on crime. I’ll gow ith them. To me, it’s a sign of strength ina lawyer to accept jurors who seem superficially to be very pro-law enforcement. And the jurors say, hey, this lawyer must be good or have a strong case, he’s accepting tough jurors. This theory has worked well for me over the years.
I also always ask each individual whetehr they want to be ont his jury and why. If they really don’t want to be there, i don’t want them there….
Most people seem to have enjoyed being on my juries after it’s over. We speak afterward. I try to go to trial only on the most interesting cases.
Let me ask you this. I know the judge said he is presumed innocent. And the law says it. But don’t you really think, when you walk in that courtroom,in your gut, more likely than not the defendant did just what they say he did? Forget “presumptions” and other terms of art. Don’t you think the cops usually get it right? if you think they usually get it right, then you probably beleive, he did what he’s accused of. How do you really feel…if you really feel the defendant is probably guilty, and you can communicate that to the court, you cannot be on thejury. But, you must be honest. I think most people honestly believe that most people charged are probably guilty.
