After all the other people were shuffled out of the court room, the judge asked each individual person a number of questions: Their name, their marital status, if they had children, what they did for a living, what their spouses, children and any in-laws did for a living and their level of education and where they studied as well as where they resided.
Each person was required to respond to questions about lawsuits raised against them and what the verdicts on those cases were, if any. She pushed on to find out if they had been victims of a crime or if their family members had been. After each line of questioning, she asked if any of the individual jurors experience would make them biased in any way.
We then recessed and when we came back she asked if anyone had anything else they felt that they should disclose to the court. I raised my hand and disclosed that I worked in the legal and compliance area of my bank and in the Anti-Money Laundering division. She asked me if I thought it was fair and just that I disclosed that. I said 'yes' and she agreed.
At this point the prosecuting and defending lawyers met with the judge in private to go over which people should remain on the jury based on their answers.
After 15 minutes or so, the judge read a number of names and excused them. My name was not called. She then asked us to move over in the jury box. I became at that point juror #3,
We were all sworn in.
1 comment:
It's so exciting to read about your experience with this jury selection process. I feel like I'm watching a movie as I read. Only better, b/c you're in it!
Interesting that all this questioning is done in front of the whole group. So much for privacy!
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