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By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: With mounting frustration over the duration and human cost of the Coronavirus pandemic, along with the sluggish pace of vaccinations in many parts of the country, President Joe Biden, this past week, threw down the gauntlet and announced a sweeping new policy of mandating vaccines for federal employees and for […]

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Arizona may not be the model when it comes to partisan post-election audits. But when it comes to online or virtual trials, the “Cyber Ninjas” in that context seem to be doing much better. In the Grand Canyon state’s most populous jurisdiction, Maricopa County, civil parties can choose virtual juries

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: This is the general sentiment I sometimes hear when one side in an opening statement is talking about the other side’s experts: …and they are going to be bringing Dr. Smith up here to tell you that their theories are true. But when they do, remember who is paying Dr.

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In the early preparation for a jury selection, I will often ask the team if there are plans for a supplemental juror questionnaire. Sometimes the answer is that there aren’t any such plans, and they haven’t really thought of that. Attorneys, with some justification, might assume that the other side

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Potential jurors arrive at the courtroom with misinformation that might bear on your case. They could have opinions on scientific validity and reliability that will conflict with what your experts will tell them. They might have views on social groups that prevent them from seeing your witnesses fairly. They might

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Based on a recent and extensive report from New York’s Attorney General, the state’s Governor, Andrew Cuomo, is now facing numerous credible claims of a pattern of sexual harassment, with his fellow Democrats, including the President, calling on him to step down. Some of the claims against him, including the

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The jurors assemble and begin watching the trial — not the actual jurors but the shadow jurors, the ones who are recruited by one side, matched to the real jurors, and offer feedback on the trial as it comes in. They watch opening statements, and each of the witnesses, and

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: One trait of jurors is that, at the start of a case at least, they are not already savvy about the case’s subject matter. So, how do they learn? Through expert testimony. They won’t necessarily just sign-on to an expert’s conclusions, but they are likely to be influenced by both

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is as if the public health groundhog emerged from its den, saw its shadow, and now promises six more months of confusion, polarization, and pandemic fatigue. With the more-transmissible Delta variant of the Coronavirus surging across the country, there is concern that we may not be over the hill