Jury Selection

"Jury science is designed to replace the attorney's guesses and intuitions about members of the venire with empirical studies that connect expected biases with actual data about the jury pool" (Barber 6).

Before they used the social sciences to assess jurors, attorneys would use speculation or "gut feelings" to determine who in a given pool of prospects would make the best jurors. Such methods are subject to personal biases, and they were often based on stereotypes (Barber 6). By using jury science, however, attorneys are better able to understand what jurors will be sympathetic to their clients. That merits further examination.

It was 1970 when jury science was first used in a trial. It involved J. Edgar Hoover and an anti-Vietnam War group made up of Catholic priests called the East Coast Conspiracy to Save Lives. The United States government charged one of the leaders, Philip Berrigan, and six other people with planning to blow up heating tunnels in Washington, D.C. The government selected the conservative town of Harrisburg, Pa., for its trial venue

Jay Schulman, antiwar activist and sociologist, believed that justice was not being served by the government's choice of trial venue. He concluded that the governmen

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the basis of which juror attitudes can be assessed" (Barber 8). 5. Group Dynamic Analysis Group dynamic analysis was a jury-science technique used in the Harrisburg-Seven trial. In that case, Schulman chose a subgroup of young women whom he posited would function as a faction, supporting and strengthening a pro-defense position. Many attorneys also try to establish a special rapport with one juror who seems to them to have the typical characteristics of a foreperson. 6. Focus Groups Very much in the vein of market research, this technique involves assembling a group people with the same demographic characteristics, then identifying their attitudes and beliefs as potential members of a jury pool. The purpose of using focus groups is to help lawyers and analysts discover which jurors will likely be sympathetic to their case and how to frame their arguments. Focus groups are meant to supply trial advocates with specific insights into jurors whom they determine they must convince during the trial. Equally, focus groups may suggest to advocates the most appropriate tactics for swaying jurors to their point of view. 7. Mock Trial Mock trials are used only in cases where large amounts of money are at risk and where the parties can
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Approximate Word count = 2459
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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