All the trial techniques literature and studies I read say that jury selection is the most important part of the trial. Frankly, however, it is often the most overlooked by attorneys. I’m probably no exception, though each time I pick a jury, I prepare more and more and try to devise a strategy going in.

But there is also a practical problem. How do you track all the comings and goings of jurors in the pool? In USA v. Ayodele, et al, Todd’s Big Case (I’ve changed the name from Anatomy of a Criminal Case), we had at least 30 prospective jurors prior to preemptory strikes. We also had a lot of prospective jurors coming and going because of challenges for cause before that.

So, how to track that?

I’ve used everything from boxes on a legal pad (not enough room and too messy) to using small Post-It notes on a legal pad (neater but still too small).

So, this time I used a 16” x 16” magnetic dry marker board and small Post-It notes. I used one color for the initial pool of jurors and a different color for jurors who were struck for cause. I could hold the board in my lap and carry it to the podium for my turn at voir dire. I also could make the names big enough so I could read them and address a prospective juror by name. I also had enough room for some key notes about the juror’s responses.

I still didn’t quite have enough room for all the juror names but it worked pretty well. I’ll probably use it again for my next jury trial but with a few tweaks.

The prosecution used a modified system that seemed to work pretty well too. They had a large sheet of heavy paper with boxes drawn on it. They would then use one color of Post-It notes for new jurors then another color for jurors who were struck in preemptory strikes.

Thank God for Post-It notes! They are so useful to attorneys for not just this but for marking passages in documents or key points on legal pads.

 

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