Matthew T. Mangino
The Youngstown Vindicator
September 19, 2016
The composition of a jury in a criminal trial is
extremely important. In fact, there is an old joke among lawyers about the
difference between jury trials in Great Britain versus the United States. In
Britain, the trial starts once the jury selection ends – in America, the trial
is already over.
That process is playing out in Mahoning County.
Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney is presiding over jury selection for Robert
Seman. Seman is accused of setting a house fire that killed 10-year-old Corinne
Gump and her grandparents in 2015. The fire occurred the morning that Seman was
to face trial for sexually assaulting Gump.
Tedious
A case can turn on the composition of a jury. As a
result, the process can be time-consuming and tedious. The selection of a
capital jury, one that will be asked to impose the death penalty, is jury
selection on steroids.
The most dramatic difference between a regular jury
and a capital jury is that each juror in a capital case must be “death
qualified.” A capital juror may not be categorically opposed to the death
penalty, but at the same time the juror may not be of the opinion that a
first-degree murder conviction must result in the death penalty.
Last week, 19 jurors out of a pool of 160 were told
to report to the court. Each of those jurors had completed a questionnaire that
inquired into the potential juror’s background as well as their beliefs,
relationships and opinions on various aspects of the criminal justice system.
As those jurors appear in court they are subject to
individual voir dire, or in layman’s terms, individual questioning. The purpose
of examining individual jurors is to reveal any potential bias.
Subjects for inquiry include: Has the juror ever
been the victim of a crime? Does the juror have a family member in prison or is
she related to someone in law enforcement?
Long before jury selection begins in a capital case,
the attorneys involved know what they’re looking for in a juror – young or old;
educated or uneducated; professional or blue collar; even whether the jury
panel should be dominated by men or woman.
When there are resources available prosecutors or
defense attorneys may employ the services of a jury consultant. A jury
consultant can assist counsel in selecting a jury. Through focus groups and
research a jury consultant will develop a profile for potential jurors.
During Seman’s jury- selection process, counsel on
both sides will whittle down the number of potential jurors through a series of
challenges. The first is a preemptory challenge. In Ohio each side in a capital
case has six chances to remove a potential juror for any reason other than
race, which is not an issue in this case.
The second type of challenge is for “cause.” If
counsel can articulate a reason why a juror should be removed from the panel
the judge will decide whether or not to excuse the juror. For instance, a juror
tells the attorneys and judge that she has made up her mind about guilt based
the news accounts that she has read or heard. The court will excuse the juror
for cause without counsel having to use a preemptory challenge.
The more jurors who have been tainted by the media
leads to a different problem – can a fair and impartial jury be empaneled in
Mahoning County? It is not a question of whether a juror has heard about a high
profile case like Seman’s, but whether a juror can set aside what they have
heard and still be fair and impartial.
Judge Sweeney ruled against the defense’s request
for a change of venue. The defense wanted the judge to bring a jury in from
another county or have the court move the trial. Sweeney said the request to
move the trial was “premature.”
However, as jury selection continues, and if it
becomes increasingly difficult to seat jurors, the judge could reconsider the
request.
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett,
Kelly & George P.C. His book “The Executioner’s Toll, 2010 “ was released
by McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com.
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