Jury selection has narrowed down to 40 finalists in the high-profile trial of George Zimmerman. In a second round of questioning, potential jurors were asked about their attitudes toward gun issues, neighborhood watch groups, and guns.
On MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation” Reverend Al Sharpton spoke with Former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey about the make up of the jury.
“I think in a controversial case like this which has an acknowledged racial divide, the composition of the jury is extremely important. And from the standpoint of a verdict that's going to have broad acceptance, the closer it is to represent the demographics to the community, I think the more fundamentally acceptable the verdict's going to be. One of the biggest challenges the judge is going to have in this case is what if the defense begins to use its preemptory challenges to strike African Americans from the jury panel,” said Coffey.
Strike for cause is a method of eliminating potential members from a jury panel. In this trial, each side will get six.
Looking at demographics of Seminole County 66 percent identify as White, Non Latino, 18 percent Latino and 12 percent African American. Despite all of the intense pretrial publicity, Kendall Coffey believes they decided to stay in the same county due to demographics.
“There's a whole process, actually a protocol and formula that Florida uses if either side prosecutor or defense strikes individuals of a special protective group. If that starts to happen in the next couple days, you can expect to see some sidebars. You can expect to see maybe even some fireworks over the issue,” said Coffey.
Reverend Al Sharpton raised the issue of dealing with potential jurors pre-determined opinions. Mr. Coffey said there would be some attempts to renew the challenges for cause on some of the jurors.
“The thing the judge will articulate is to have a fair and unbiased jury to let the defense and prosecution exercise their strikes. But in the back of the judge's mind, if I’m the judge, I want whatever the verdict is. I want a verdict that is going to have public credibility and acceptance. I think that means not only the fairest possible jury, but a jury that has some diversity,” said Kendall Coffey.
On MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation” Reverend Al Sharpton spoke with Former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey about the make up of the jury.
“I think in a controversial case like this which has an acknowledged racial divide, the composition of the jury is extremely important. And from the standpoint of a verdict that's going to have broad acceptance, the closer it is to represent the demographics to the community, I think the more fundamentally acceptable the verdict's going to be. One of the biggest challenges the judge is going to have in this case is what if the defense begins to use its preemptory challenges to strike African Americans from the jury panel,” said Coffey.
Strike for cause is a method of eliminating potential members from a jury panel. In this trial, each side will get six.
Looking at demographics of Seminole County 66 percent identify as White, Non Latino, 18 percent Latino and 12 percent African American. Despite all of the intense pretrial publicity, Kendall Coffey believes they decided to stay in the same county due to demographics.
“There's a whole process, actually a protocol and formula that Florida uses if either side prosecutor or defense strikes individuals of a special protective group. If that starts to happen in the next couple days, you can expect to see some sidebars. You can expect to see maybe even some fireworks over the issue,” said Coffey.
Reverend Al Sharpton raised the issue of dealing with potential jurors pre-determined opinions. Mr. Coffey said there would be some attempts to renew the challenges for cause on some of the jurors.
“The thing the judge will articulate is to have a fair and unbiased jury to let the defense and prosecution exercise their strikes. But in the back of the judge's mind, if I’m the judge, I want whatever the verdict is. I want a verdict that is going to have public credibility and acceptance. I think that means not only the fairest possible jury, but a jury that has some diversity,” said Kendall Coffey.
No comments:
Post a Comment