The prevalence of blog sites on the internet has resulted in jurors who are increasingly aware of the ins and outs of the jury selection process…and they don’t like it.  Even jurors who are willing and able to serve are dismayed, distressed and somewhat bored by the process; the length of time involved, the apparently “stupid” questions, and the transparency of the goals set by counsel.  

It was obvious from the following blog that jurors have little understanding of the “whys” of the process; an attorney’s attempt at rehabbing a potential juror was just perceived by the potential juror as stupid and annoying and displaying a lack of attention on the part of counsel.

The logic at the civil trial I was looking at was all too apparent. I knew that the prospective juror who declared he was having his own problems with one of the litigants (a company) would never make it to the jury. It was obvious that the company's lawyer wished that particular guy never made it out of bed that morning, although to be fair, it wasn't the guy's fault the lawyer wasn't paying close attention when the matter first came up. "So you've had this problem for five years now, but it's been resolved?" asked the lawyer.

"No," barked the juror, having just explained that very thing.

"But you're satisfied with the company's actions in its attempts to resolve the matter?" asked the lawyer.

"Not at all." he said, bending his head toward the mic.

"But you could be impartial toward the company?"

"Of course."

Yeah, right.

Juror complaints about the process are rampant, ranging from the uncomfortable seating during voir dire to the mind-numbing boredom of constant waiting.  Some comments unearthed in recent blogs:

I didn't know court could be so funny. The benches they make the prospective jurors sit on, on the other hand, are not at all humorous…

It was clear from the get-go that this trial would be like pulling teeth.  It reeked of frivolous lawsuit, and every juror used their questioning time during the selection process to voice disgust over the amount being discussed…

…delays, breaks, extended lunches.  The life of a juror is that of sitting around looking bored for a really long time.

…lawyers playing gotcha politics and constantly bickering and repeating themselves, boring us all. 

The plaintiff’s lawyer was a Brooklyn-born guido with OCD, overly emotional with petty childish behavior throughout.  He’d repeat himself constantly… generally came across as the standard cliche’ shyster ambulance-chasing lawyer…

The defendant’s lawyer in contrast was the southern old-timey type, slow-talking and sometimes seeming confused, all the while talking in a condescending holier than thou passive-aggressive mode.  Neither seemed pleasant people that I would ever consider hiring for my lawyer.

I have noticed in the last few years that jurors are becoming increasingly aggravated by the system and are using more and better excuses to get out of jury duty; they’re tired of the whole thing and most of them have no desire or inclination to be there.  The most well-thought out and telling comment addressing this issue was by the blogger who posted:

We live in an age when technology is changing, society is changing, and the public’s perception is changing.  If there is anything that is overwhelmingly evident from the past year or so, it is that the majority of the public is sick and tired of the status quo.  People are sick of politics as usual, they are sick of the old guard way of doing things socially and economically, and they are extremely jaded over the outdated and bizarrely structured legal system we have.  So if you’re going to have a jury trial, recognize that people are sick and tired of gotcha politics and the old guard way of the legal system.  We understand that there is certainly procedure that must be followed, but the bickering over nonsense just causes jurors to become jaded. 

The best advice we can give you is to be aware of your audience.  Keep the voir dire as brief and on point as possible; avoid repetition, boring the venire and losing their attention.    This is your opportunity to establish a relationship with your jury.  Make sure the relationship is not dysfunctional.   Recovering function from dysfunction is usually an impossible task in the limited time frame of a trial.