By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We know that perceptions of facts can be filtered by a strong partisan lens. Differing narratives regarding the recent election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have brought that into sharp relief. While a majority of Americans consider the issue settled, a surprisingly large minority does not. Based on a […]
Guard Against “Expressive Response” in Voir Dire Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Many Republicans believe that President Trump lost the election only due to widespread and systemic voter fraud. When Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, a Trump voter and donor, says that Democrat Joe Biden won on a legitimate count (and recount) of the votes, he is part of the
Watch Out for Self-Sealing Belief Systems Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: These are stressful times, and there are many reasons to expect that your jury pool in the near future is going to be a little stressed out. In the article, “The Pandemic Juror,” (Wilson 2020) a University of Tennessee law professor noted what many of us have observed: Jurors who
Understand Juror Anxiety Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We tend to think of “bias” as it applies to juries, but courts can have their own deep-seated practices. For example, judges will often prefer voir dire questions that focus on the juror’s own assessment of the influence of a given attitude or experience, not on the actual attitude or
Voir Dire on Content, Not Effect: Lessons from the Tsarnaev Appeal Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In courtrooms making tentative steps toward reopening to in-person jury trials, some of the parties have called for increased use of juror questionnaires, ideally filled out ahead of time either by mail or online. This makes a great deal of sense in, at least, reducing the time spent during voir dire,
Juror Questionnaires: Expect Some Deception Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: What do your potential jurors think about the necessity to follow the law at all times? While it won’t apply in all cases, it will apply to many. Recent protests against police brutality across the country have led to scores of non-violent protestors being arrested for crimes such as “failure
Voir Dire on Civil Disobedience Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: When jury trials start up again, one way or another, it is going to be a strange and potentially uncomfortable experience for the jurors. If reporting in person, they will be dealing with distancing, masks, temperature checks, hand washing and a risk of infection. Alternatively, if they are logging in
Voir Dire on Willingness to Serve Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Okay, my title is purposefully provocative, but it is not an exaggeration. Based on a recently released, first-of-its-kind, comprehensive study on the effectiveness of voir dire following common practices in civil trials (Campbell et al., 2020), the verdict is that voir dire is often of no value when it comes
Treat Truncated Voir Dire as Useless Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: When Trump associate Roger Stone was sentenced last month for obstruction of Congress and witness tampering, there was some pushback from media, Stone’s legal team, and the President himself targeting the jury’s foreperson, a focus of a recent post in this blog. As part of that pushback, we have seen some
Ask the Court to Help You Look for Stealth Jurors Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Roger Stone has now been sentenced, following conviction on seven counts of obstruction, false statements, and witness tampering. But for the political fixer and his legal team, the fight isn’t over. In a recent motion, they argue for a new trial, claiming that the jury’s foreperson showed bias in being
Let He Who Is Without Bias Cast the First Stone Read More »