On Legal Ethics

Jurors that would be a perfect fit for a plaintiff's case may kill your chances of winning under a different type of action. Your analysis of the appropriateness of different types of jurors must be driven in substantial part on the facts and circumstances surrounding your case.

Not only is it important to consider who your client is and who your witnesses are, but it is also critical to analyze the type of action you are bringing or defending, to be able to gauge how your jurors will react and view the evidence they are about to hear.

The family law case

If your witness list includes victims of domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse or child molestation, be assured that some members of your prospective jury will not be able to relate to them. They may have a hard time understanding or empathizing with witnesses when they don't understand the dynamics of a dysfunctional family relationship.

Many domestic violence victims stay with their abusers despite repeated serious injuries, and many young children endure years of child molestation without telling anyone. Even though routinely we employ experts to testify about the reasons behind these behaviors, the dynamics may still be very difficult for some jurors to understand. These jurors consequently will doubt the credibility of your witnesses. You therefore need to identify these jurors during voir dire.

Domestic violence cases

Whether you are in criminal court, family court or in a child custody proceeding, if your case involves domestic violence you should ask your jurors about their prior exposure to domestic violence and their views on whether such cases should be prosecuted in criminal court. But in order to elicit more in-depth views about domestic violence, you will want to probe further.

Ask if anyone has called the police because they thought they heard what might be a domestic violence incident occurring. Such proactivity may increase the likelihood of them believing the victim. Make sure your jurors understand that contrary to what is often portrayed on television, it is not the victim who "presses charges" in a domestic violence case. This discussion is most important when your case involves a recanting victim. If the victim is your client, you want to select jurors that will understand the many reasons behind recantation, which include love, fear, threats and financial dependence. At the other extreme, if your victim is not recanting you need to weed out the jurors who will hold it against victims if they are willing to testify against the abuser, who will often be a spouse.

Child custody/Dependency/Child abuse case

Child witnesses present an entirely different host of issues. The principal issue with young children is competence. Nonetheless, even if your child witness is ruled competent to testify by the court, your jurors will be more skeptical of any inconsistencies demonstrated by this type of witness. With older victims of child molestation, the biggest hurdle is credibility.

Like cases involving domestic violence, cases involving allegations of child abuse or molestation often lack corroborating evidence. Good jurors for these types of cases are ones who are detail-oriented as well as perceptive, to ensure they will both listen carefully to the child and be able to pick up on demeanor cues that will enhance credibility. You may want to avoid jurors who have never had any exposure to children, as they are likely to misunderstand common child behaviors. Most people who have experience with children will likely know that even if a child is prone to lying about certain things, that does not mean the child will lie about something serious, like molestation.

Please tune in next month as we examine what kind of jurors are generally good for most cases under most circumstances.