INTRODUCTORY REMARKS FOR THE VENIRE

(JURY SELECTION FOR CRIMINAL CASE)

          Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Judge Joan Gottschall. We’ll begin today by asking the clerk, Ms. Johnson, to administer the oath to the jury panel. Ms. Johnson, will you please shuffle the jury cards.

          The Constitution of the United States guarantees to every person accused of a criminal offense the absolute right to trial by “an impartial jury.” That constitutional guarantee, which was set out in the Bill of Rights over 200 hundred years ago, has two important components. The first is that the facts of a criminal case are to be decided by a jury of citizens. Why, you might ask, should the facts be decided by a jury of twelve people, rather than by a public official, a law-trained judge like myself? Obviously, if I were to decide all the cases that come before me, that would avoid having to inconvenience citizens like yourselves, who are asked to give up your time and your attention to become decisionmakers. But the fact is, the framers of the Constitution were wary about giving such power to officials and were wary about allowing any one person to make a decision of the immense importance that a judgment in a criminal case represents, both to the defendant and to society. They believed that a group of citizens, of diverse backgrounds, experiences and walks of life, deliberating together, could deliver a much higher quality of justice than any one person can. And despite what you might hear if you watch a lot of television from people who think they know it all, most of us who spend our lives working in the judicial system believe that the framers of the constitution were right, that more fairness and more wisdom can come out of the deliberations of a group of diverse citizens than any single person is capable of.

          The second component of the right to a jury trial is that the Constitution requires “an impartial jury.” That means a jury composed of people who are able to come to judgment fairly, relying on the evidence and the law and putting their personal prejudices and preconceptions aside.

          I am aware, and everyone else involved in this case is aware, that all of you have lives outside this courtroom and demands on your time and attention. We are well aware that we are asking you to make a significant sacrifice to serve on this jury. But democracy is not easy. As someone once said, “Freedom is not free.” It demands something from its citizens and one of the things it demands is that occasionally they put their other obligations on hold to some extent to participate in the responsibility of making decisions and providing justice, and performing those duties with the kind of commitment and conscientiousness you would want from a jury if you or someone close to you was on trial. I hope that if you are selected to be a member of this jury, you will be satisfied that all of us who work in this judicial system deeply appreciate your service, are doing our best to make your job as jurors as easy as we possibly can, and that when the experience is over, it will have been a rewarding and perhaps even an inspiring one for you.

          To make sure the jury that is selected to hear this case is as impartial as possible, we go through a process called a voir dire examination. Voir dire is a French term meaning to speak the truth, and it consists of asking each of you a number of questions to help me, the lawyers and each of you determine if there is anything in your background or your experience that would make it hard for you to be the “impartial juror” the Constitution requires.

          If during the course of the voir dire examination, there is anything you wish to speak to me about in private, please let me know. If any of you indicates that you would like to speak to me privately, we’ll go into the hallway or into my chambers and discuss the matter. Also, because of your answers to some of my questions [or to the jury questionnaire, if one is being used], I may have some private conferences with some of you to follow up, in a more confidential setting. I guarantee you will not find this experience unpleasant, so please do not be offended or nervous if I ask you to step out into the hall. It is simply a matter of either protecting your privacy or discussing something that I think ought not to be discussed in front of the entire jury panel. As you will notice as the proceedings go forward, a judge never acts truly privately, but almost everything I do is with the participation of the lawyers for both sides. Your only obligation in this process is to be as honest as you can and don’t worry about anything else.

          Also, if at any time you need a break to use the restroom or for any other reason, just let me know. You are very important participants in a very important process and I want to do whatever I can to make the process as comfortable as possible for each of you. Sometimes I neglect to take as many breaks as some people need. What I’m trying to do is make sure everything keeps moving as quickly as possible, so that your time is not wasted, but my efforts to keep things moving should not come at the expense of anyone’s physical comfort.

                    [The court tells the panel how long the case is expected to take.]

          I’m going to start by telling you a little about the charges in this case. The charges are set forth in the indictment.

                    [INSERT AGREED STATEMENT OF THE CASE]

          Please remember, as I’ll remind you again later, that the indictment is only an accusation. It is not proof of anything, and no one can be convicted of anything charged in an indictment unless it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt according to the rules I’ll give to the jury a little later.

                    [Ask whether any member of the panel has heard or read anything about the case.]

                    [Introduce the lawyers and the defendant and read witness list. Determine if any member of the panel knows any of them or has had any dealings with any of them.]

          As your name is called, step into the jury box. Fill up the first row first. Then fill the second row. We have a sheet of questions which we will hand out to all of you. When you are called into the jury box, you will be asked to give us answers to the questions on the sheet. I will then ask you some additional questions.

                    [The question sheets are handed out. The court follows up with specific voir dire.]

          Let’s call jurors 1-14 into the jury box.