In my opinion, the most important aspect of a criminal jury trial is voir dire. A case can literally be won or lost during this process. Think about it. Vior dire is the part of the trial where a jury is selected. In any criminal case, there will always be good jurors who will want to decide the facts of the case, and there will always be bad jurors who will not want to get close to the case. It doesn’t matter if you are a prosecutor or a defense attorney. Selecting a bad jury can mean the difference between a favorable result and a not so good one.

So what makes Vior say so difficult? Well, a lot is happening. Basically, during this process, all parties to the case, the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense attorney are asking questions of a group of jurors about the facts and issues of the case. Due to the amount of information being given and the speed of this process, it is important to stay organized and take good notes. That way, when it comes to selecting a jury, you have an idea of ​​which ones you want and which ones you don’t.

For me I learn better visually. So I have developed a fairly simple system that allows me to keep track of all the jurors, take notes on what they say, and then remove them once they have been removed from the group. To do this, get the following supplies: 1 sheet of legal-size paper, 1 x 2-inch sticky pad book, 2 different colored pens.

What I do is put sticky pads on the legal sheet in the way the jury sits. So if it’s a misdemeanor case, there will normally be 20 jurors in the group. So I put 20 sticky pads. Then number each sticky pad to correlate with the individual jury number. I also write at the top of the sticky pad if the juror is male or female, and their age. That way, when I talk to them or when they are talking, I won’t confuse or misidentify anyone.

Once I’ve set that up, I proceed to take abbreviated notes for each comment made. I will also put a check mark at the bottom of each sticky note pad each time the jury speaks. That way I know who has spoken and who has not. Throughout this process I am constantly evaluating what the jurors say and I will score 3 points depending on whether I like them or not. I’ll put a cross if I don’t like them next to their number. If I am undecided or think they will be neutral, I will put a horizontal line. If I like them, I’ll put a check mark.