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Yesenia Afanador
CRJ 353
Professor Kordzek
19 June 2020
Petit Juries, Evidence, & Jury Biases
As it pertains to jury trial, trial juries are also called petit juries, to differentiate them from
grand juries (Neubauer & Fradella, 2019, pp. 317). The purpose of the jury is to represent its
commitment to the role of administering justice. This jury is selected from a pool of people. This
selection comprising of three stages is a process that combines random selection with deliberate
choice. It begins with compiling a master jury list, then summoning the venire, and conducting
voir dire. Specifically, voir dire involves a preliminary examination of a prospective juror in
order to determine his or her qualifications as a juror (Neubauer & Fradella, 2019, pp. 384). In
addition to collecting basic information about the jurors such as their names, addresses, and
occupation, they are questioned regarding their backgrounds and familiarity with the person that
is being tried. Also question is their attitudes about certain facts concerning the trial and anything
that may hinder their ability to judge the case fairly and impartially.
Both sides used techniques to carry out voir dire to select the jury. Prosecutor Liz Carter,
presented the facts on Denise Moore. She inquired how many of the jurors were also victims of
crime. She continued to ask how each would vote if she proved the defendant guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt. Lawyer David Ringel, reassured that it is the jury’s responsibility to determine
if Denise is accurate, mistaken, or lying. He used an analogy for the purpose of explaining that
being positive about a case does not make them right or accurate. He proceeded to ask if at the
end of the case 9 out of 10 reasonable doubts were shot down, how the jury would vote. Based
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on these questions and findings, prospective jurors were eliminated. Neither side portrayed the
typical process of collecting basic information from the prospective jurors or their attitudes about
facts concerning the trial as described in law on the books.
Regarding evidence utilized in the case, basic evidence consists of physical objects,
testimony, and/or other things offered to prove or disprove the existence of a fact (Neubauer &
Fradella, 2019, pp. 390). There are different types of evidence including direct and
circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence is first-hand evidence that needs no further explanation
and does not require any inferences to institute a fact (Neubauer & Fradella, 2019, pp. 390). On
the contrary, circumstantial evidence is indirect. To reach a rationale, the jury would have to
reason through the evidence and infer a fact at hand. Evidence goes further into classification of
testimonial evidence and real evidence. Testimonial evidence is referred to as oral testimony
given under oath whereas real evidence are tangible objects including weapons, clothing,
documents (Neubauer & Fradella, 2019, pp. 390). Presentation of any of these types of evidence
is controlled by fundamentals called rules of evidence. The judge is responsible for weighing
whether the trial would be fairer with or without the piece(s) of evidence obtained.
In Criminal Justice (1990), testimonial evidence of Denise Moore was presented at the
trial. Also the fact that Jessie Williams was identified in a lineup by Denise Moore. However,
there was doubt in whether her identification was accurate or valid due to the possibility of crack
impairing her awareness. There was no presentation of real evidence. In 12 Angry Men (1957),
the murder weapon, a knife, was presented to the jury. It had an unusually carved handle and
unique blade. There was also testimonial evidence from a man living on the floor beneath the
defendant and where the murder took place and a testimony from a woman that claimed she saw
the murder from her window across the street. The evidence presented is flimsy because the
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woman’s eyesight is in question. She wore eyeglasses and it is probable that she was not wearing
them when she claimed to have seen the killing because it is noted that she was in bed at the
time. The man living beneath where the killing supposedly took place claimed he heard the boy
yell “I’m gonna kill you”, at the same time a train was passing by, indicating his hearing may
have been skewed by the noisy train.
Aside from the evidence presented, jury biases can greatly affect the decisions that a juror
makes. Jury biases were evident in 12 Angry Men (1957) when one of the jurors places a
stereotype on individuals who come from slums and have been exposed to violence at a young
age. He states that these people lie, their violent nature is born within them, that they’re drinkers,
that they lack the consideration for human life, and there is not one who is good. He even says
