RESPONSES

What are questionnaires to assist jury selection?

Pretrial or supplemental juror questionnaires are tools available to the trial attorneys to identify potential juror bias prior to commencing the traditional voir dire process. This technique permits the trial attorneys to make the most efficient use of the voir dire process to select a fair and impartial jury.

Top

What procedures are being used in courts that use questionnaires to assist in jury selection?

In most jurisdictions, the attorneys for either party can move the court to permit juror questionnaires. The motion should include a copy of the proposed questionnaire. If the motion is granted, the court's order should note any modifications to the questionnaire and should include any procedural or administrative requirements for the questionnaires, such as the amount of time counsel will have to compile and analyze the responses. The moving party typically prepares the questionnaires and coordinates their administration. After the jury panel completes the questionnaires, the moving party also provides copies of the responses to the court and opposing counsel.

Distribution and administration of the juror questionnaires can be handled in a number of ways. To accommodate the amount of time requires to compile and analyze longer, more comprehensive questionnaires, the court can mail the questionnaire to the jury panel with a stamped, self-addressed return envelop. Mailed questionnaires should include instructions about how to complete the questionnaire and the deadline for returning it. Mailed questionnaires also should include a written oath to be signed by the prospective juror that he or she has personally completed the questionnaire and that the questionnaire responses are true and accurate to the best of his or her knowledge.

For questionnaires that do not require as much time for analysis, the jury panel may be instructed to bring the completed questionnaire with them when they report for jury service. Alternatively, the court clerk or jury manager can distribute the questionnaires at the time the jury panel reports for service. In the latter case, the written oath may be included in the questionnaire or the court clerk can administer the oath verbally.

The questionnaire should include an introduction that informs the jury panel about the purpose of the questionnaire. The introduction should not make false assurances about the confidentiality of jury panel responses. The introduction often provides a brief explanation of the case. Questions included in the questionnaires should be clear, concise, stated in plain English, and easily understood by the jury panel.

The attorneys for the parties should develop an effective system for quickly identifying and evaluating questionnaire responses. Overly broad or open-ended questions tend to yield extraneous and often irrelevant information that is difficult and time-consuming to compile and analyze. Using supplemental data sheets to condense important information to one page for quick reference and constructing an electronic database to sort through large quantities of data are two common evaluation methods.

Top

What do jury questionnaires typically ask jurors about?

Juror questionnaires typically ask jury panel members to answer questions about five basic areas of inquiry:

Biographical and demographic information.
Knowledge of the parties in the case, including the attorneys representing the parties and witnesses testifying for the parties.
Awareness of the case, including first-hand knowledge or knowledge gained from pretrial publicity.
Opinions about the case, including preexisting attitudes and beliefs about relevant case information.
Preexisting attitudes, beliefs, values, and experiences, including prior jury service or prior experience with the justice system as a victim, party, or witness.

Top

What are the advantages of juror questionnaires?

Some advantages include:

Juror questionnaires can prevent contamination of the jury panel by hostile jurors. Members of the jury panel who have specific information or strong opinions about the case reveal this information in their responses to the questionnaire rather than through verbal statements before the entire jury panel;
Juror questionnaires maximize the efficient use of time allotted for voir dire by providing the judge and attorneys with routine biographical information and by identifying panel members with prior knowledge or strong preexisting opinions about the parties or the case. Based on this information, some members of the jury panel may be excused altogether while the trial judge and attorneys begin voir dire with case-relevant and follow-up questions to the remaining panel members;
Jury panel responses to questionnaires may be more expansive and more candid than responses to verbal voir dire questions. Sensitive or personal information concerning prospective jurors can be revealed in their written responses, relieving jury panel members of concerns about disclosing sensitive or embarrassing information publicly. Additionally, the use of pretrial questionnaires prevents jury panel members from conforming their responses to the perceived "correct" or majority response of the panel; and
Questionnaires can be combined with the summons for jury service, providing a vehicle for jury panel members to inform the court of severe hardships or other reasons for disqualification from jury service.

Top

What are the disadvantages of juror questions?

Some disadvantages include:

Constructing and designing juror questionnaires can be difficult and cumbersome, particularly when the specific details of the case require inquiry into a broad range of juror characteristics;
Answering juror questionnaires may be difficult or impossible for jury panel members who have poor written communication skills because of disability, lack of education, or limited familiarity with written English;
The administrative costs associated with distributing questionnaires to the jury panel and copying the responses for the court and opposing counsel can outweigh the benefits of this technique, especially with large jury panels;
Written responses to questionnaires deprive the trial judge and attorneys of the ability to observe prospective jurors' nonverbal communication during voir dire - an element of questioning on which many judges and attorneys claim to rely to determine the honesty and reliability of the individual's responses;
A requirement that jury panel members sign a written oath that they have personally answered the questionnaire does not guarantee that the panel member has, in fact, done so. Sometime a spouse or significant other will complete the questionnaire and fail to reveal important information, especially about juror attitudes and beliefs; and
The use of pretrial juror questionnaires shifts control of the voir dire process from the trial judge to the attorneys - a result that some trial judges find objectionable, particularly if the technique appears to benefit one party to the detriment of the other or otherwise jeopardizes the appearance of a fair trial.

Top