Alaska Supreme Court Retains Some Pre-Pandemic Jury Trial Innovations
After reviewing three years of jury utilization data, the state high court on August 29 issued Supreme Court Order No. 2013 detailing which remote jury trial practices instituted during the COVID-19 health emergency should be continued based upon their demonstrated benefits. These include -- setting a default standard for the number of jurors to be called to a courtroom per case type, directing prospective jurors to submit responses to voir dire questionnaires (including hardship requests) electronically before the trial date, and requiring challenges for cause be addressed by the parties and court before the jurors appear in the courtroom.
Did Trial by Jury Get Trashed in Recent Presidential Candidate Debate?
Washington Post associate editor Ruth Marcus wrote an op-ed on August 25 about how all but two participants in the recent Republican presidential candidates’ debate did not raise their hands in response to the question, “Would you support Mr. Trump even if he were convicted by a jury?” She believes the question boils down to, “Whom do you believe — Trump or a group of 12 jurors, sworn to be impartial, required to be unanimous in their verdict, instructed that the government has the burden of proving its case against him and that the evidence must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?”
Three days later, pollster Ruth Igielnik published “Americans Still Put Their Trust in Juries. Will Trump’s Trials Break That Faith?” in the New York Times. She writes:
Nearly 60 percent of Americans say they have at least a fair amount of trust in juries, according to a new survey — higher than for any other group in the judicial system. But that trust may soon be put to the test, as former President Donald J. Trump appears to be headed for multiple trials in the coming year. When asked specifically about Mr. Trump’s upcoming trials, a majority of Americans — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — said they did not think the courts would be able to seat impartial jurors.
Video Games Blog Provides Audiences with Lessons on Role of Juries!
Of all places to find a tutorial on juries, who would ever have guessed JStationX recently posted a pretty accurate blog on “What Role Does a Jury Play in a Criminal Case.” The non-gamer author of this article wonders if there are video games of courtroom battles. Readers are invited to respond to that wonderment.
News Service for Litigation Enterprises Advocates the Virtues of Virtual Jury Selection
JDSupra is an online publication serving a wide range of court actors such as law firms and media outlets. It recently posted “Indictments Highlight Benefits of Remote Jury Selection.” The authors suggest that, if the recent high-profile criminal indictments of public figures eventually go to trial, using technology to summons jurors from beyond traditional geographic boundaries would yield more diverse and impartial juries. The thought-provoking piece does not address the Sixth Amendment requirement of juries coming from “the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.”
Loquacious Court Clerk Accused of Misconduct in Alex Murdaugh Murder Case
According to The New York Times and The ABA Journal, lawyers for the “once-influential” South Carolina lawyer filed a motion attacking his jury verdict on the grounds that the elected court clerk Rebecca Hill exerted verbal influence on the deliberating jury and published a book about the trial that described, among other things, her supervising (with trial judge approval) the jury’s visit to the crime scene during the trial. The defense team’s court filing included a quote from one juror saying, at the beginning of deliberations, Ms. Hill told the jurors, “This shouldn’t take us long.” Although the trial lasted six weeks, it took the jury three hours to render guilty verdicts.