Something that concerns trial lawyers more than ever is seating a juror with intractable explicit biases or who believes in conspiracy theories. King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Raam Wong experienced this situation when he prosecuted a high-profile, near-fatal shooting of an antifascist protester during a demonstration in Seattle in 2017. Raam joins the podcast to talk about voir dire and deselection tactics, experts and evidence, and checking your own biases at the courtroom door.
Topics
5:25 Political violence and Hokoana case
9:57 Factors that contributed to mistrial
14:38 Juror “tells” during voir dire
16:50 Conspiracy theories about a witness
20:17 Digging into social media
20:30 Questions for deselecting jurors
24:36 Willful disregard of evidence, civil versus criminal cases
27:30 Addressing juror attitudes
32:50 Remedying attention span issues
37:50 Believing in or rejecting expert opinion
40:50 Concerns about physical safety at trial
45:01 Signoff question
Quote
“As trial lawyers, we really have to grapple with [. . .] stereotypes every day in court—the assumptions we have about people and the assumptions that the jury might hold. And at times it can be really effective, as advocates, if our good facts kind of match up, or reinforce, the jury’s preexisting beliefs. But at the same time, as a prosecutor, I’m trying to do justice, and doing justice, in my mind, means ensuring that our courtrooms are open to everyone, and that means not making assumptions about people based on demographics or other characteristics.” Raam Wong
Resources
Raam Wong (bio)
State v. Hodgman (case file)
Alt-Right Event in Seattle Devolves into Chaos and Violence, Outside, Truth-Twisting Inside (SPLC Hatewatch)
Righteous or reckless? Trial under way for couple accused in UW shooting during Milo Yiannopoulos speech (Seattle Times)