This training program will aid those working to defend persons accused of homicide in drug-related overdose deaths. Each section of the program focuses on a different aspect of these cases. CLE is not available for this program.

During voir dire, the most important concern for criminal defense attorneys is getting prospective jurors to express true feelings. In the quest for a juror’s truth, defense counsel must create a connection with that juror. Jason Sosa writes that the key to success in voir dire is reflective listening, which involves defense counsel trying to understand a juror’s viewpoint and then communicating that perspective back to the juror to assure the juror that it was understood.

If police credibility is a critical issue at trial, the defense needs jurors to believe one of two possibilities – the police officers are not credible either because they are mistaken or because they are dishonest. Are the prospective jurors open to the idea that police officers will lie under oath? What hypotheticals can defense counsel use to educate the members of the venire while simultaneously searching for cause challenges?

Jury consultant Robert Swafford writes that by carefully drafting questions and appropriate follow-up questions, lawyers can significantly increase the number of strikes for cause they obtain during voir dire. Swafford utilizes loaded questions, which are questions that make it easy for a juror to express opinions that result in the juror being struck for cause.

Voir Dire: Part I presented by Martín Sabelli, attorney, San Francisco, CA

Race Matters I: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice
September 14-15, 2017 | Detroit, MI

Often, the process of jury selection is akin to making sausage — the process is ugly but the finished product is a thing of beauty. Witness a recent aggravated assault with a deadly weapon prosecution: An argument in a bar escalated into a serious confrontation involving deadly weapons outside. A jury was left to sort out criminal culpability or lack thereof.

Letter to the Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice & Procedure regarding proposed rule changes to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Attorneys representing white collar defendants face substantial challenges during voir dire. What are the standard topics and specific questions that the defense should cover?

Using scaled questions is one method of jury selection questioning that allows the lawyer to learn how strongly a juror feels about a concept or defense. What are scaled questions? What kinds of scaled questions can be asked in a DUI trial?

 and Other Candid Conversations in Voir Dire

Any time the defense team presents evidence of a client’s mental illness, it does so to explain why the client did something unthinkable. Attorney and trial consultant Denise de La Rue discusses how defense lawyers can find jurors who are willing to listen and will not say “bullsh*t” when counsel uses the terms “mental illness” and “developmental disability.” She provides a juror questionnaire for cases involving mental health issues.

Presented by Eric Davis, Chief of the Felony Trial Division, Harris County Public Defender (Houston, TX)

Race Matters II: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice
January 10-11, 2019 | Los Angeles, CA

Voir Dire: Part II presented by Kyana Givens, Assistant Federal Defender, Federal Public Defender Western District of Washington (Seattle)

Race Matters I: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice
September 14-15, 2017 | Detroit, MI

Voir Dire of Jury Panel in Arson Case.

A set of questions asked to the jury during the selection process, covering seven topics, including attitudes about sex and consent. 

A voir dire request outline with intentional blanks for the user to fill out by the Bidwill Law Firm.