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Within the framework of constitutional guarantees to trial by jury is the Sixth Amendment promise of an impartial jury in federal criminal cases. Individual jurors, though, come with preconceived ideas and prejudices based on life experiences that often interfere with the ability to provide such impartiality. The concepts of jury selection and voir dire themselves acknowledge the potential for jury bias and the need to minimize its effects on achieving a fair verdict and sentencing.
The failure of voir dire to identify a juror's preexisting prejudices and experiences may introduce bias into the proceeding before trial begins. Other jurors may become biased during trial based on their exposure to the evidence, the media, or communication with others. This article, though, focuses on jury selection and voir dire, and the effect of juror bias on achieving a fair criminal trial and its potential contribution to wrongful convictions.
Studies that have examined potential biases in prospective jurors as well as the extent of undetected biases of seated jurors found that many jurors are influenced by positive or negative biases that were not detected during voir dire. Other studies that focus on how jurors reach their decisions have demonstrated that attitudes and life experiences of potential jurors are prime factors in shaping their perceptions of the evidence.
Life experiences and preconceptions contribute to the narrative or story that jurors develop as they listen to evidence and decide the case. Evidence that is inconsistent with jurors' preconceptions and the developing story may be discounted or ignored. Individual attitudes tend to be much more powerful predictors of verdict choices than demographic characteristics.
(Valerie P. Hans & Alayna Jehle, The Jury in Practice: Avoid Bald Men and People with Green Socks? Other Ways to Improve the Voir Dire Process in Jury Selection, 78 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 1179, 1180 (2003).)
In order to increase the effectiveness of voir dire and to seat sympathetic jury members, many attorneys hire consultants to investigate jurors in an attempt to identify preconceived biases based on lifestyle and previous experience. Others rely on stereotypes that relate certain demographic characteristics such as gender, age, race, and occupation to a pro-prosecution or pro-defense predisposition. Combined with juror research regarding demographic characteristics and stereotypes, juror investigation may elicit potential...