‘Jury of One’s Peers’ Defined
By FRED CONNORS Staff WriterArticle Photos
WHEELING-Criminal defendants in West Virginia are entitled to a trial by a jury of their peers -but that does not mean jurors must be of the same race or social status as the accused.
Robert M. Bastress, professor at the West Virginia University College of Law and author of "The West Virginia State Constitution: A Reference Guide," said criminal trial jurors are comprised of people who are selected at random from a pool of citizens.
"The right to a trial by a jury by one's peers is an interpretation placed by the U.S. Supreme Court on the Sixth Amendment right to a criminal jury trial," Bastress said. "It is derived from Anglo-American common law in existence at the time of the Bill of Rights' adoption (1791) and dating back to the Magna Carta. Derivatively, state constitution guarantees for the right to a jury by one's peers include the same requirement. As the right has evolved, the state has had a decreased ability to limit who are 'qualified persons.'"
He said the U.S. Supreme Court has invalidated the exclusion of persons from a jury pool on the basis of race, freeholder status (property owners), gender and national origin or ancestry status. They are similar to permissible exclusions from the right to vote.
According to Batress, "The right does not entitle a defendant to any particular composition of the jury that is in fact selected, but only to a jury pool that was created inclusively and without unjustified discrimination against any particular group. Justified discrimination has now been pretty much limited to the exclusion of the mentally deficient, felons and non-citizens."
In response to specific questions about the issue, Batress responded as follows:
Q. If a black man is on trial for an offense against a white woman-and the jury consists of 12 white people-is the defendant being tried by a jury of his peers?
A. Yes-so long as the pool from which the jury was drawn was created in a non-discriminatory manner, the draw from the pool was done non-discriminatorily, and the prosecutor did not intentionally use peremptory strikes to keep blacks off the jury.
Q. Can a wealthy man be tried by a working class jury?
A. Yes.
Q. How about an all women jury hearing a case against a man, or all men hearing one against a woman?
A. The answer is the same as for the race question.
In Ohio County, the ratio of whites to other races in the jury pool is reflective of the county's population.
A recent American Community Survey report to the U.S. Census Bureau reveals Ohio County has 44,098 residents consisting of 41,781 whites, 1,704 African Americans. The remainder is comprised of American Indian or Alaska Native (24), Asian (451), Hispanic or Latino (297) and other races (700).
Ohio County Circuit Court Clerk Brenda Miller said the county's jury pool, consisting of about 25,000 people between the ages of 18 and 70 years, is derived from registered voter and driver license registrations lists.
She said it is not possible to pinpoint the number of white versus minority jurors available because jury questionnaires do not require a response to the race question.
Once a person is selected for jury duty, he or she will be one of 35 to 40 people told to report to the designated courtroom on the day of the trial. More prospective jurors are called when the case is determined to be a high profile case.
Ohio County Circuit Judge Arthur Recht the first part of jury selection is the voir dire process with allows for examination of prospective jurors under oath to determine bias or preconceived notions of guilt or innocence.
He said "In the voir dire process, attorneys and the judge pose a series of questions to prospective jurors to determine their suitability to sit on the jury. A written questionnaire often precedes this oral questioning and aids counsel in selecting an impartial jury panel. The questioning lawyers may dismiss a juror for cause, such as when bias exists."
Once the pool is whittled down to 20 prospective jurors, the defense attorney and prosecutor are permitted to have a limited number of peremptory strikes they can use to dismiss a juror for any or no reason. The defense is allowed to strike six while the prosecutor is limited to two.
Assistant Ohio County Prosecutor Shawn Turak and defense attorney Richard Hollandsworth have similar views on the subject.
Turak said "jury selection is as much about the question and answer phase during voir dire as it is about your instincts regarding any particular person who may be selected or stricken from the panel."
Hollandsworth added "I try to read people. Each case is different, but a lot depends on how prospective jurors answer questions during voir dire. Obviously, I will do what I think is in the best interest of my client."
Ohio County Prosecutor Scott Smith thinks the prosecutor and defense lawyers should have an equal number of peremptory strikes.
He said "as it is now, the defendant is to be presumed innocent, The state has the burden of proof and has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant has a right to not take the stand and a jury's guilty verdict must be unanimous. There are sufficient safeguards for the defendant, so it is only fair that the state get the same amount of strikes."
While the concept of a jury of one's peers is aimed at criminal cases, many of the same principles apply in civil cases.
William Wilmoth, managing member of the Wheeling office of Steptoe & Johnson, spends most of his time defending civil cases.
"The concept of a jury of one's peers is more relevant to a criminal case, where someone's liberty is at stake," Wilmoth said. "The term 'peer' comes from the German tradition of having a person's neighbors sit in judgment of conduct, as a conscience of the community. It really just means 'equals,' and it has been interpreted by American courts as being a broad spectrum of the general population. It doesn't mean that women will be tried only by women, or that Asians will be tried only by Asians.
"On the civil side, where generally only money is at stake, the same general principles apply. When civil lawyers pick juries, they aren't as concerned about a jury of anyone's peers, as they might be in a case where someone could go to prison-but juries have personalities, like any other group. Lawyers are looking for jurors who will understand the arguments the lawyers will make, and will take the time to actually try to analyze the facts and do the right thing which is all anyone involved in a trial ought to want."
Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva, who specializes in representing plaintiffs in civil cases, said a prospective juror's financial status has no bearing on that juror's ability to make trial decisions.
"Whether rich or poor, jurors can fairly assess litigants before them in a civil case," Toriseva said. "In fact, diversity among jurors actually promotes justice because it ensures that all viewpoints are considered and understood.."
"It is wrong to assume that a poor person would unfairly or harshly judge a rich person. In fact, someone who is poor might very well admire a rich person for their success, their work ethic, etc. Alternatively, if that rich person is a rude or arrogant sort, no one likes that-rich or poor.
"Civil cases are often about money, so the lawyers representing both sides will want to consider the backgrounds of potential jurors regarding money, and financial matters-but the issue can, and often does, cut both ways. Rich people can be frugal; poor people can be spendthrifts; and vice versa."
|
rockdrummer
|
|
|---|---|
|
06-14-09 11:16 PM
|
Ellis, what does it feel like to know that everyone hates you?
|
|
GoldenArm
|
|
|
06-14-09 12:02 PM
|
More class warfare BS from Ellis "the corpofacist" Wyatt. Keep grabbing those ankles Ellis, one day you'll reach the top.
|
|
EllisWyatt
|
|
|
06-14-09 8:38 AM
|
I DO think that economic status, more than race, influences the avg. jurors' opinion. If you look at West Virginia, you will see no shortage of poor and working class folks on juries punishing those who are more successful. Many jurors clearly relish the idea of playing with huge sums of money that do not belong to them. This is why we see multi-million verdicts against doctors. It is also why WV can't keep doctors. We see hundreds of millions in damages assessed against Chesapeake or Massey or a chemical company. The typical person feels that "the rich **** over the working guy" and, therefore, the rich should pay up. Where did the tobacco lawsuits start? West Virginia. What state did not accept the (ridiculous in the first place) Microsoft "anti-trust" settlement? West Virginia. What state instigated the suit against fast food? West Virginia. What state allowed a nine-figure verdict against one of the state's largest employers (Chesapeake)? WV!
|
|
EllisWyatt
|
|
|
06-14-09 8:33 AM
|
Some years back, in Alleghany County (home of Pittsburgh), a civil rights group sued for discrimination in jury pools. They contended that black defendent's could not get a fair trial because the percentage of black jurors did not match the percentage of the overall black population. This assumes, of course, that one's race trumps the facts of a case. Blacks made up about 11% of the population but just 5% of the juries. Of course, about 15% of the surveys sent out never came back. The county relies on property ownership, voter registration and driver's records to locate potential jurors. No one ever did a study to find out what percentage of blacks in the county owned property, had a driver's license or were registered to vote. On avg. about 61% of blacks in PA are registered to vote. This means that about 6.6% of blacks are registered in Allegeheny County. They make up about 5% of any jury poll. I fail to see the discrimination here.
|
|
ChaplineRow
|
|
|
06-14-09 7:16 AM
|
I believe for the most part the peer system works well. There are exceptions. All though today it is not as much of a issue years ago all white juries probably were more likely to convict a black of a offense against a white. Another more recent example would be the OJ Simpson trial that cost the taxpayers millions. Simpson was found not guilty by a jury of his fans rather than a jury of his peers. The jury was composed of ten black, one white and one Hispanic. I do believe that the DA's office could have had a video of the killings and Simpson still would have gotten off. The arrogance of the prosicuters office in selection of the jury pool was the downfall of their case. One last thought, in a very high profile case it very well may be necessary to have a "change of venue" declared and the trial be held at another location other than the city or town where the crime occured.
|
|
Wondering
|
|
|
06-14-09 6:50 AM
|
Most courts could not find a true jury of peers, since convicted criminals are prohibited from serving on a jury if I recall correctly.
|
|
roxtar
|
|
|
06-14-09 5:32 AM
|
"...as it is now, the defendant is presumed to be innocent." There's a remarkable statement from The Man Who Would Be Judge. Imagine a world in which every accusation from your crazy neighbor or ex-wife led to the presumption of guilt. Mr. Smith, run for judge in North Korea. It seems to fit your philosophy better.
|
|
RockEReputation
|
|
|
06-14-09 4:22 AM
|
A top TV executive in California left his job last fall after the comments he made during a jury selection in a carjacking case were critiqued. Bob Hall had said he couldn't be fair because the defendant was Hispanic, and research by his station's newsroom had showed a propensity for Hispanic males to commit violent crimes. He also reportedly said that prosecutors wouldn't bother with the cases unless the defendants were guilty. "I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean, I love the country but I can't stand the scene..and I'm neither left or right, I'm just staying home tonight, getting lost in that hopeless little screen..but I'm stubborn as those garbage bags that time cannot decay..I'm junk, but I'm still holding up this little wild bouquet." - Leonard Cohen
|