California Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney - Voir Dire
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF JURY SELECTION PROCESSThis chapter will use as an example a personal injury case involving a traumatic brain injury. As in all jury trials, Voir Dire is the process whereby the jury is selected. Judges are furnished with a standard juror questionnaire and many of them choose to use these standard questions. Northern / Southern California traumatic brain injury attorneys usually create their own questions and ask that they be included with the judge's questions.
Then the jury panel is called to the courtroom, the judge directs some initial questions to them. Some of the prospective jurors will be excused because of hardship. After completing preliminary questions twelve prospective jurors are chosen from the panel and tentatively seated in the jury box. The trial judge and the traumatic brain injury lawyer question the prospective jurors to determine if they are suitable. The Southern / Northern California traumatic brain injury attorneys have an unlimited number of challenges for cause (this means they must give one of a few acceptable reasons for disqualifying the prospective juror). The traumatic brain injury lawyer may also exercise peremptory challenges, but these are limited two six each. When a prospective juror is dismissed a replacement is drawn from the panel and questioned by the judge and attorneys. After all challenges for cause are made and each Southern / Northern California traumatic brain injury attorney declines to make a peremptory challenge, the jury for the trial is accepted.
DISQUALIFICATION FOR CAUSE
There is no limit on the number of jurors that may be challenged for cause. The types of Challenges for cause are set forth below
1. Fails to Meet Qualifications: Jurors must have all of the following qualifications; the absence of any one is grounds for challenge for cause. The juror must.
a. Be an U.S. citizen
b. Be at least 18 years old
c. Eligible to vote in California
d. A resident of the jurisdiction where the person is asked to serve
e. Not serving as a grand or trial juror in any court in California
f. Not the subject of a conservatorship
g. Not been convicted of a felony, malfeasance while in office, unless his or her civil rights have been restored
h. Have sufficient knowledge of the English language
2. Challenge for Implied Bias: In a personal injury case involving a traumatic brain injury, a juror may be challenged for any one of the following causes. If the party:
a. Is related by blood or marriage within the fourth degree to a party, or an alleged witness or victim in the case at before the court
b. Has, or is the parent, spouse, or child of a person having, one of a number of specified relationships with a party.
c. Is a member of the family of either party
d. Is a partner in business with either party
e. Has had an attorney-client relationship with a party, or an attorney for either party within one year prior to the filing of the complaint;
f. Has served, within the preceding year, as a trial juror in any action or proceeding in which either party was the Plaintiff or Defendant or in a criminal action where either party was the Defendant;
g. Has a mind set of anger or bias toward either party
h. Is a party to a case pending in the same court and set for trial on the same jury panel on which he is a member.
i. Untruthful responses to voir dire questions
j. Has an interest in the main question in, the action (other than as a taxpayer)
k. Has previous knowledge of some of the facts in the case and an unshakable belief as to the in the merits of one side of the case
l. Has served as a juror of any kind, or been or will be a witness on a previous trial between the same parties.
3. Challenge for Actual Bias: A juror may be removed if it is clear his state of mind is such that he cannot be completely impartial.
EMPANELLING THE JURY
When no further challenges for cause are entertained by the judge, and when the parties have either exhausted their peremptory challenges or refused to exercise any more, the jury is sworn in.