Ideal Jurors Exist, You Just Need to Look for Them

What is the focus of most voir dires?

To find the bad apples.

On its face, this make sense; bad jurors can derail things in the verdict room, making all your hard work for naught.

But consider this: it's going to take a team of willing participants to take heroic action for you and your client. Focusing on finding your bad jurors and then working with whoever is left is no way to build a team.

That's why I suggest you focus your voir dire on finding your ideal juror. 

In order to find your ideal juror, you need to know what they look like.

To begin, look at the issues in your case. 

Ask yourself, "What would an ideal juror have to think or believe for this no longer to be a fear?"

Instead of looking at how to frame your issues, look at what will fix them instead.

For example, if you're worried about the fact that your client is an undocumented immigrant, ask yourself, "What would fix this?"

An ideal juror in that case might believe:

If you hurt someone, you're responsible for the harm, regardless of the victim's citizenship status.

Continue coming up with beliefs your ideal juror will hold. Go down your list of issues and come up with 2 - 3 ideal juror beliefs for each issue. When you're done you should have a pretty comprehensive list.

Take a look at your list. Is it clear what kind of juror you're looking for now? You bet it is. Your ideal juror believes the things on this list. Now you know what to ask in voir dire. 

Bonus? As you go looking for your ideal jurors, it will be really clear where the bad apples are.

What you focus on, you create. Look for your ideal juror and they'll show up.