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Dispatch
THE CLARETT TRIAL
Finding 12 good jurors for No. 13 may be hard
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Bruce Cadwallader
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> Maurice Clarett?s celebrity as a former Ohio State University football player is expected to complicate jury selection.
Pretrial publicity will be at the heart of the probing when prospective jurors are interviewed Monday for Maurice Clarett?s aggravated-robbery trial.
Attorneys for both sides will try to find a jury of 12 who can be fair and impartial in deciding the fate of the former Buckeye football standout.
"He was an Ohio hero as well as an Ohio disappointment," said Max Kravitz, a law professor at Capital University. "How that?s going to play to a jury is very difficult to predict."
If a jury can?t be seated, Clarett?s attorneys have requested that the trial be moved to another county. But the last time that happened in Franklin County was in 1994, when the trial of serial rapist Dr. Edward Jackson was moved to Hamilton County.
About 300 jury summonses have been issued to registered voters in Franklin County. About 150 people are expected to show up.
That?s twice as many as are summoned every Monday for regular jury duty.
Also unusual is the special questionnaire that has been drawn up to determine what people know and think of Clarett and Ohio State University football.
Most lawyers agree that jury selection can make or break a case. Kravitz called it an "art form" that takes years to develop.
"It?s one of the hardest parts of any trial," said Bob Krivoshey, an OSU law professor who teaches a class in jury selection. ("It?s a one-hour class taught in the summer," and it?s not required, Krivoshey said.)
Experience and gut instinct are keys to picking a jury. "No one is going to admit to being a bigot" in open court, Krivoshey said. "Often you?ve got to go on a hunch with a juror based on what organizations they belong to, age, race, gender, socioeconomic status and education."
Failure to appear for jury selection can result in a citation for contempt of court and a possible fine, or, in rare instances, jail time.
Prospective jurors will be seated in the courtroom and called 16 at a time into the jury box for questioning. Because the state has the burden of proving the case, Assistant County Prosecutors Doug Stead and Tim Mitchell will ask questions first in a "getting to know you" format. They will be aided by the written questionnaires the potential jurors will have filled out.
Defense attorneys Michael C. Hoague and Dominic L. Mango then will be given an opportunity to ask their questions.
Common Pleas Judge David W. Fais can excuse a juror for cause ? illness, vacation, the inability to deal emotionally with a case ? and both sides will have six challenges, in which they don?t have to give a reason to excuse someone.
If a person is excused, another takes that seat, and questioning begins again until 12 jurors and at least two alternates are in the box.
Elizabeth Cooke, another OSU instructor who teaches about questioning witnesses, said she tells students to rely on their own interpretations of a person?s answers and reactions.
"A lot of it is a gut instinct," she said.
Defense attorneys look for any prejudice against their clients, she said.
S. Michael Miller said it?s no different for prosecutors.
"To be a juror, you have to register to vote, so most people who come down there do have an interest in their community," said Miller, a former Franklin County prosecutor.
"In general, prosecutors look for people who are solid, stable people, employed or retired. There?s an experience factor to it."
Both sides try to guard against extremists: those who can?t convict and those who always would, Miller said.
Still, there are no sure bets, Miller said. In his last highprofile case, he represented highway shooter Charles A. McCoy Jr., accused of shooting at moving vehicles and killing a woman riding in a car on I-270. Although McCoy had been the subject of intense media coverage, it didn?t take long to find qualified jurors, and most had college degrees.
"Both sides were really pleased with the jury, the smartest jury I?ve ever had in my life," Miller said. But the jury could not reach a unanimous decision, and a mistrial was declared.
McCoy later pleaded guilty to reduced charges and is serving 27 years in prison. [email protected]
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