Miscellaneous

Jury Wrangling

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Lots of good jury stuff from all over this week!

Jury selection goes Supreme as the Court hears Rivera v. Illinois (07-9995). Ah, Illinois! The Land o' Lincoln is second only to Louisiana in so many things. This case of the improperly seated juror will (hopefully!) answer a host of questions, including what error is, what the effects of structural error is, misc. remedies, and what happens when a juror axed by a peremptory somehow becomes foreperson. For a more in-depth preview, read Argument Preview: Jury Selection Dynamics, Lyle Denniston, SCOTUSblog (February 21, 2009).

You know him as the author of the Encylopedia Madonnica, but Matthew Rettenmund also tried his hand at jury service. Can public service turn a flaming liberal into a cynical conservative? Temporarily. Read all about it in Legends of the Fall, Matthew Rettenmund, Boy Culture (January 19, 2009). This is quite a read. Most of the accounts of jury service we read are not by professional writers; the fact that this one is makes it so much more real.

In Boston, jurors are feeling post-trial doubt (PTD) over a decade later. Three jurors who convicted Alfred Trenkler in 1993 are now advocating for a new trial. After reading a tell-all (or tell-some) book about the case, these jurors, once part of a unanimous group, cite circumstantial evidence, poor investigation, and other reasons for their gnawing PTD. See Jurors Who Convicted in '93 Ask Judge to Retry Case, Maria Cramer, Boston Globe (February 23, 2009), and the Alfred Trenkler Innocent Committee website. (Because if a website says so, he *must* be innocent!)

In Austria, the hills are alive with the sound of ick as the Josef Fritzl trial moves ahead. A five-part (i.e., five-day) trial will be held so that jurors do not have to digest all the bitter details of the notorious incest case all in one day. The trial will begin March 16. See Fritzl Trial Will Need Full Five Days, Austrian Times (February 22, 2009). Meanwhile, Phil Spector is seething with envy; his second trial has been going on since last October.

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on February 23, 2009 (boomark / email).