Voir Dire & Juror Profile

Jury selection is crucial for both the prosecution and the defense. Voir Dire is the process of questioning a jury pool to learn about their prejudices, biases, intelligence and overall personality. Each attorney is allowed time to question the potential jury members. The judge decides how much time the attorneys will have to ask questions during jury selection. Most judges allow 20 to 30 minutes to question the jury pool for a DUI case. Jurors are legally required to answer honestly during voir dire. Jurors have been known to use deception for the purpose of becoming a jury member or to avoid being a jury member. An experienced attorney usually can determine which jurors are being dishonest during jury selection.

Both the prosecution and defense attempt to select jurors that would most likely prove beneficial for their respective clients. Below is a chart listing characteristics of jurors that the defense is seeking and the jurors the prosecution is seeking during jury selection: