Do you know who gets picked to serve on a Jury? How to prepare for jury duty.

If you want to get picked for a Jury, or are curious how Jury Selection works, we are going to explain some of the secrets to getting seated for a jury (and explain why peopled get kicked off).

Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:24 – Selection vs. De-Selection
00:46 – It’s All About Voir Dire
01:22 – What is Bias?
02:21 – Challenged for Cause
03:07 – Peremptory Challenges
03:44 – Sitting in the Hot Seat
04:16 – Secrets to Getting on a Jury
05:11 – Conclusion

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Original Blog:

Who Would Want Such a Thing?
You just received the letter in the mail informing you that you have jury duty next month. However, instead of groaning about it, you’re actually excited!
What kind of weirdo gets excited about jury duty?! Weirdos who have a strong sense of civic duty, that’s who.

If you will recall, we previously posted a blog about How to Avoid Jury Duty, which was really just a sarcastic commentary about how important juries are in our society, but today we’ll discuss how jury selection actually works.

Selection vs. De-Selection
The first thing you need to know is that juries are picked by de-selection, rather than selection. What does that mean? It means that individual jurors are not chosen to be on the jury, instead, the jury panel is comprised of the people that weren’t challenged off of the panel. Sounds like a privilege, right?

It’s All About Voir Dire
During the first stage of jury duty, you will sit through voir dire. This is just a fancy French word for “speak the truth” and in Texas it is pronounced like “more wire”. This is where you sit with far more people than will be seated on the jury. At this stage, you are known as a “venire-person” because at this stage, you are sitting on the “venire-panel.” For a 12-person jury, it isn’t uncommon to have at least 40 people on the venire-panel.

The attorneys will be allowed to ask you questions at this stage. They are attempting to learn more about you as a citizen and to find out if you hold any personal views that might interfere with your ability to be fair and impartial. Basically, they are trying to see who holds a bias towards their client.

What is Bias?
Well if you are trying to get on a jury, then you do not want to be labeled as biased. For example, if you have a friend or family member that is a police officer, then you might believe that police officers are always truthful and give the testimony of a police officer extra credibility.

Perhaps your trial is a family law matter, and you believe that young children should always live with their mothers, then your views may be biased towards one side and against the other. There is nothing illegal about having a bias, it just means that this trial may not be the best one for you to sit on as a juror.

For example, if you have a bias for, or against, a police officer, then that wouldn’t matter in a custody dispute where no police officer is expected to testify. The important thing to remember is that you must tell the truth, even if it reveals that you may have a bias, because hiding a bias simply to get on a jury could cause an unfair result for one side.

Challenged for Cause
After all of the questions have been asked to the venire-panel, the attorneys will identify venire-persons to the Judge whom they believe have such a bias that would prevent them from serving as a fair and impartial juror. This is what’s known as a “challenge for cause.”

If you get called up to visit with the Judge, it could be that you gave an answer that made you appear to be biased. This isn’t the end of the world because it could have been an ambiguous question that you didn’t understand.

At this point, the Judge or one of the attorneys may attempt to “rehabilitate” you by asking more questions about whether your views are so strong that you are inclined toward one side or another. If you cannot be rehabilitated, then the Court must strike you from the panel.

Peremptory Challenges
Even if you do everything right, and aren’t stricken for “cause,” you may still be excluded from the jury. Each side gets a certain number of “peremptory challenges.” This means that they can strike members from the panel without having to provide any justification whatsoever.
So, even if your answers during voir dire don’t reveal any bias, you may not come across as a favorable juror for one side. As long as they do not use their peremptory challenge to exclude you because of your race, creed, religion, national origin, etc.

Music:
Forever – Anno Domini Beats
Music provided via YouTube Studio Audio Library

How to avoid jury duty, avoid jury duty, avoid jury duty texas,

[boggerfl]

Never excited about missing work for $12 a day deciding whether someone is innocent or guilty.

[ElderBishopPastorReverendOssie]

This is exactly what I need to know to get OUT OF

[michaelproctor]

I became a juror in a civil trial after correcting one of the attorneys who had misquoted one of my answers during the voir dire process. Never make some lawyer look foolish in front of everyone if you want to stay off a jury.

[thunderdeed]

It’s just that my jury duty experience was an absolute waste of a day and several other jurors felt the same way. A man was accused of stealing a 5 dollar pair of sunglasses he was caught on CCT and he defended himself. The jury foreperson made our waste of a day quite clear to the judge. That case never should have been a jury trial.

[wendydomino]

Someone in my family from an older generation admitted to me a few years ago that he would judge someone was "trash" by their race/class status and would vote them guilty based on that because even if they didn't do that crime he figured that they committed other crimes and got away with it. He also said they sometimes already had a criminal record so he felt like whether they did or didn't do the crime in question wasn't important. He also seemed convinced that paying attention to the evidence wasn't necessary because he felt if someone was on trial for something "they must have done something". He should have been struck from the juries but unfortunately the voir dire didn't reveal his severe bias in time.

I was completely appalled. I want to get on a jury to be able to get the chance to undo some of the damage he did. That doesn't mean automatically finding someone innocent. It means going in there and carefully weighing what both sides have to say and really listening and paying attention and not coming to a conclusion about guilt or innocence before hearing all the evidence including the closing statements. I really want to do a good job as a fair person because I feel so ashamed at how he behaved.

[Galloway]

Why is jury duty so financially punitive? With the pittance jurors are paid, most will find jury duty a financial hardship. I imagine many people would not mind jury duty nearly as much if, when selected to serve on a jury, they were paid as much as they would be at their jobs.

[sophieminter]

My dad is a software engineer and has never gotten picked, but he's been summoned a few times and dismissed at the courthouse. I think the reasoning is engineers are smart and logical thinkers (biased) and the sides aren't going to like that.

[mzindelo]

I really like your work. You give great information! Opinion: The background in some of your videos are distracting — looks different than your moving image.

Thanks for informing us

[mejs]

I’ve been selected twice to be a juror! If it was any way possible, I would be a juror for life! I ALWAYS want to serve

[VinhTran-eevm]

I work at night, and I have a problem focusing in the morning. There is no way that I can stay awake or pay attention to critical arguments from either side. will I be strike from the panel?

[joeharris]

I want to be on a jury.
I first registered to vote in 1980.
Callled once but not selected.

[NatureBoy]

I got jury duty now and I want to get selected. Thanks for the video

[chrisl]

I got my jury summons, and then when I entered their questionnaire in Pennsylvania, I was told I didn’t need to appear and I was. There were several reasons why I might not have needed to appear, but one of them was when I was 18 I took paralegal courses. I did not end up finishing the program, but I took a lot of legal courses and had some legal knowledge, I wonder if that was what got me excluded my experience may have been a bias.

[parris]

Are you given a days notice to come in or is it on the spot? I’ve had 3 jury summons, but I’ve never been selected to even go to the court.

[MsRandieK]

I’ll use your tips if I EVER get called … I want to serve . I’m in Florida
Found you Matthew from Recovery Addict live stream !

[TyraCarston-Lydon-pthx]

I have been summoned, im nervous a bit but I shouldnt be cause theres over 400 people who habe been summoned., 150, 000 people live in the city. Alot of people.

[SuperJVx]

also, can you visit the court clerk the day before the summons date and explain your situation to avoid having to discuss it publicly? I genuinely cannot get enough rest to be present properly but don't like to say in front of a room full of people

[SuperJVx]

second question - I have recently quit drinking alcohol and have not yet been able to sleep properly. I am getting only a couple hours sleep a night and unable to focus. Also, I have been successful quitting and have no intention of starting again but can the judge do something like order me to rehab?

[tonybalony]

I got summoned but i have social anxiety have had it for 14 years now but i never got it professional looked at. I get panic attacks around people literally 24/7 what can i do?

[venomouslue]

I have trouble focusing, my brain likes to go on little adventures and before I know it I missed everything someone just said. Should this be something I mention or will they ask? Or would it not make a difference?