Jury Selection: Getting the Bias Out of the Jury Pool

Learn how biases shape juror perceptions that may result in leaning toward one party over the other and ways to overcome juror reluctance to identify and admit bias.

Bias – the term carries a strongly negative connotation, yet we all have them. Think of them as inclinations, assumptions, general beliefs, and results from a lifetime of experiences. Jurors who are assembled in a room full of strangers, attorneys, and authority in the form of the judge, feel that bias is bad. They often don’t want to admit that they have biases - beliefs and life experiences that will direct their attention, provide them with specific insight, and lead them to draw conclusions that are shaped by something other than the evidence.

Oftentimes, jurors don’t even recognize their biases and/or appreciate just how much their own biases may impact their jury service. Additionally, jurors are reluctant to admit biases even when they are aware of them. This material will focus on explaining juror research, which helps us identify juror bias. Learn about situational variables and contribute to bias in the jury. Discuss how the use of social media may inform your jury selection decisions by allowing you additional insight into a juror. This is a practical talk that will stress pointers that should make your life easier during voir dire and jury selection.

Agenda

	Fundamentals of Jury Research
	Different Types of Research That Have Informed Our Findings Surveys, Including Online and Phone-Based Research Mock Trials and Focus Groups Shadow Juries and Post-Verdict Interviews

	Nuclear Verdicts
	Trial and Situational Variables That Can Lead to Juror Bias Large Verdicts Today and What May Underly Those Verdicts

	Brief Overview of the Fundamentals of Juror Bias
	How Jurors Process Information Different Sources of Bias and the Strength of Those Biases We See What We Want to See and Hear What We Want to Hear How Juror Experiences and Bias Impact Perception of the Case How Juror Experiences and Bias Impact Deliberations Begin Thinking About How to Approach Evaluating Jurors

	Juror Disclosure – What Are We up Against?
	Jurors Often Don't Disclose Information During Voir Dire Jurors Sometimes Are Motivated Not to Disclose but Sometimes Just Don't Want to Disclose Personal Information

	Social Media and Background Searches Help to Offset What Jurors Don't Tell You
	How Can You Do It Effectively When Time Is Limited? Assembling Social Media and Background Information Communicating Across Team Members so as Not to Be Distract by the Information Making Sure You Have the Correct Juror Don't Get Caught up in the Minutia

	Jury Selection – Tying It All Together
	Put All of the Information Together From Questionnaires (If You Used Them), Oral Voir Dire, and Social Media Searches Rating Jurors Based on Juror Responses and Social Media

Faculty

David E. Cannon

Trial Innovations

Co-founder of Trial Innovations, a national litigation/trial consulting firm
Practice emphasizes all aspects of litigation consulting, from witness preparation to mock trials, focus groups, shadow juries, online mock trials, and jury selection in civil and criminal cases throughout the country
Recognition from the American Society of Trial Consultants for Consulting Work on civil rights era trial work
Conducts regular seminars and workshops on numerous consulting topics, such as jury selection and witness preparation
Author of several publications related to the areas of voir dire and jury selection
Active member and former board member of the American Society of Trial Consultants (ASTC)
Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology and law, University of Alabama
Can be contacted at 310-927-5879 or David@Trialinnovations.com