Resources
Jury seated in Simpson trial
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-oj12-2008sep12,0,2045528.story
Jury seated in OJ Simpson kidnapping case
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j0g8WOYzElpvmNxWuga8IU1aHyJg
O.J. Simpson jury selection enters home stretch
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iUNgbOr-2bnpFUX0MiII6je2CkRAD934F3G80
Discussion Questions
- What is the process of voir dire?
Attorneys for both sides ask potential jurors questions to try to uncover biases, and decide if they can serve impartially.
- What instructions did Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass give the prospective jurors?
They have to put aside their feelings about Simpson—for better or for worse. Those who feel negatively towards him because of his murder trial in Los Angeles must put aside those feelings, and those who feel positively towards him because he was a football star and actor must disregard those feelings as well.
- What does it mean to be “impartial”? Why is the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of an “impartial jury” so important for justice?
Impartial means unbiased. Jurors who hear evidence in a case and decide if the accused is guilty must base their decision only on the facts of a case, and not pre-conceived ideas or judgments. Impartiality in jurors helps ensure justice because if people are convicted of a crime, it should be because of the evidence and not because of peoples’ personal feelings about a case.
- Why did Simpson’s defense team object to the jury that was eventually seated? What was the Judge’s response?
The defense team charged that the prosecution removed the only black prospective juror. The final jury includes no African Americans, though the alternates include two black men. Simpson and his co-defendant are African American. The Judge said, "There has been no evidence to me that the state has made a purposeful discriminatory effort to eliminate African American jurors.” The Judge also noted that two black alternates remain.
- What reasons did the prosecution give for the removal of two African American prospective jurors?
Judge Glass asked the prosecution to justify the dismissals. The first involved a teacher who was also a pastor. The prosecutor, worried that this individual would be too inclined to be “forgiving,” pulled up the pastor’s church website in the court room and read aloud a passage about its commitment to “the doctrine of redemption.” The prosecutor also believed, “When you have a minister back in the jury room, that person can take over the jury room.”
The prosecution explained that second African American juror was dismissed because she had a brother in jail for a crime the juror believed he had not committed. This experience might make her sympathetic to Simpson, the prosecutor argued.
- How would you assess the District Court’s attempts to ensure an impartial jury in this case?
Accept reasoned answers.
Extensions
A. Have students read a statement Judge Jackie Glass made to potential jurors and write 2-3 paragraphs explaining whether/how it applies the American commitment to the rule of law:
“If you are here thinking you are going to punish Mr. Simpson for what happened in Los Angeles in 1995, this is not the case for you….I mean really, truly, folks, I'm not kidding around. Can you put that aside and understand that the case we are trying here and the info you’re going to hear about here is totally separate from that case?”
B. Have students examine the Fifth and Sixth Amendments and underline the criminal procedure provisions that protect the rights of the accused. Then, as a large group, discuss the question: Are prohibitions like the ones on forced self-incrimination and repeated prosecutions worth having if they may sometimes result in guilty people going free?
C. Have students explore the Landmark Supreme Court cases which ruled racial discrimination in jury selection unconstitutional. Students can begin their inquiry by completing this activity on Strauder v. West Virginia (1879) and Smith v. State of Texas (1941)
http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/Teach/FreeResources/Lessons/?action=showDetails&id=111&ref=showCatD&catId=7
