# How connected to a case must one be to get dropped from jury? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 11, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389 "2009-02-11T17:15:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/1 "2009-02-11T17:15:57Z")
I have jury duty and was talking with another juror about her past experiences. She said she was placed, and kept, on a jury in a trial in which her ex-boyfriend was the defendant. She also said her father was placed, and kept, on a jury in a trial in which his nephew was the defendant. These were both in Maryland, in county circuit courts, and both these jurors explained their relationships in the beginning of the selection process. How close to the defendant or other parties in a trial does a juror have to be, before it is considered reason to remove them from the jury? BTW I have no interest in getting out of jury duty, and anyway would think such possible conflicts ought to get one moved to a different trial, not excused from duty. I was just surprised and wondering. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/2 "2009-02-11T18:59:43Z")
I’m surprised she wasn’t excused. For the one jury I was on, they excused a potential juror because she had a relative who had a friend who was a security guard, anda primary witness for the prosecution was a security guard. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/3 "2009-02-11T19:06:15Z")
My mother was excused from jury duty on an armed robbery case because she was robbed three times when she used to work at a certain bank. It seems to me like they don’t take many chances when it comes to jury bias. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/4 "2009-02-11T19:17:53Z")
I was on a jury in a drug case locally, and the woman seated next to me at the beginning of jury selection raised her hand and explained that she was the sister of the person whose house where the defendants had been arrested. She was dismissed. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/5 "2009-02-11T19:23:57Z")
I find this person’s story rather suspect. I watched jury selection for a case in which I was potentially going to be called as a witness and my sense is that a relative or former lover would have been right out. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/6 "2009-02-11T20:08:43Z")
There is no hard and fast rule about who is excused and who is retained. This type of call is strictly up to the judge and the lawyers in the case. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/7 "2009-02-11T20:12:46Z")
I think the hard and fast rule is “Don’t believe everything you hear from other jurors.” I can not believe the prospective jurors in those two cases were not dropped. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/8 "2009-02-11T20:15:01Z")
Well it seems to me that the juror is not likely to know the case they are on, until after being sworn in, so surely it should be up to those who pick the jurors to minimise the chances of them knowing a defendant? ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/9 "2009-02-11T20:43:25Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Well it seems to me that the juror is not likely to know the case they are on, until after being sworn in, so surely it should be up to those who pick the jurors to minimise the chances of them knowing a defendant? I’ve been on dozens of juries over the past 40+ years and in everyone the Judge described the case and introduced the defendant, the lawyers, the prosecutors, and sometimes the witenesses to the prospective jurors before the selection began so that potentially biased jurors could be excused. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/10 "2009-02-11T21:18:09Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > I’ve been on dozens of juries over the past 40+ years and in everyone the Judge described the case and introduced the defendant, the lawyers, the prosecutors, and sometimes the witenesses to the prospective jurors before the selection began so that potentially biased jurors could be excused. Thanks for helping me fight my ignorance! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/11 "2009-02-11T21:21:04Z")
If either of their stories are true, I’d be very surprised, especially the uncle. The ex-girlfriend I could almost believe, though - maybe the defense lawyer thought the ex would be sympathetic, and the DA thought she’d know what a lying sack of crap he is. Anyway, reasons for challenges for cause in my state: > [@](#): > > (a) A challenge for cause is an objection made to a particular juror, alleging some fact which renders the juror incapable or unfit to serve on the jury. A challenge for cause may be made by either the state or the defense for any one of the following reasons: > > 1. That the juror is not a qualified voter in the state and county under the Constitution and laws of the state; provided, however, the failure to register to vote shall not be a disqualification; > > 2. That the juror has been convicted of misdemeanor theft or a felony; > > 3. That the juror is under indictment or other legal accusation for misdemeanor theft or a felony; > > 4. That the juror is insane; > > 5. That the juror has such defect in the organs of feeling or hearing, or such bodily or mental defect or disease as to render the juror unfit for jury service, or that the juror is legally blind and the court in its discretion is not satisfied that the juror is fit for jury service in that particular case; > > 6. That the juror is a witness in the case; > > 7. That the juror served on the grand jury which found the indictment; > > 8. That the juror served on a petit jury in a former trial of the same case; > > 9. That the juror has a bias or prejudice in favor of or against the defendant; > > 10. That from hearsay, or otherwise, there is established in the mind of the juror such a conclusion as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant as would influence the juror in finding a verdict. To ascertain whether this cause of challenge exists, the juror shall first be asked whether, in the juror’s opinion, the conclusion so established will influence the juror’s verdict. If the juror answers in the affirmative, the juror shall be discharged without further interrogation by either party or the court. If the juror answers in the negative, the juror shall be further examined as to how the juror’s conclusion was formed, and the extent to which it will affect the juror’s action; and, if it appears to have been formed from reading newspaper accounts, communications, statements or reports or mere rumor or hearsay, and if the juror states that the juror feels able, notwithstanding such opinion, to render an impartial verdict upon the law and the evidence, the court, if satisfied that the juror is impartial and will render such verdict, may, in its discretion, admit the juror as competent to serve in such case. If the court, in its discretion, is not satisfied that the juror is impartial, the juror shall be discharged; > > 11. That the juror cannot read or write. > > No juror shall be impaneled when it appears that the juror is subject to the second, third or fourth grounds of challenge for cause set forth above, although both parties may consent. All other grounds for challenge may be waived by the party or parties in whose favor such grounds of challenge exist. > > In this subsection “legally blind” shall mean having not more than 20/200 of visual acuity in the better eye with correcting lenses, or visual acuity greater than 20/200 but with a limitation in the field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees. > > (b) A challenge for cause may be made by the State for any of the following reasons: > > 1. That the juror has conscientious scruples in regard to the infliction of the punishment of death for crime, in a capital case, where the State is seeking the death penalty; > > 2. That he is related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to the defendant; and > > 3. That he has a bias or prejudice against any phase of the law upon which the State is entitled to rely for conviction or punishment. > > (c) A challenge for cause may be made by the defense for any of the following reasons: > > 1. That he is related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to the person injured by the commission of the offense, or to any prosecutor in the case; and > > 2. That he has a bias or prejudice against any of the law applicable to the case upon which the defense is entitled to rely, either as a defense to some phase of the offense for which the defendant is being prosecuted or as a mitigation thereof or of the punishment therefor. Coincidentally, my wife got summoned to jury duty on one of my criminal jury trials a couple of weeks ago. I made sure not to tell her any of the facts beforehand so the DA would have to use up a peremptory challenge on her. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/12 "2009-02-11T22:36:32Z")
Hmmm. I expressed incredulity when she told me these things, and perhaps it was well founded. Pravnik, thanks for posting this list. It’s interesting. I don’t see anything on the list about knowing one of the parties, per se. Did I miss anything? The closest I see are questions about being able to be impartial, and being related. I understand “degrees of consanguinity” as being the number of line segments one would have to follow in the family tree to get from juror to participant, all of them being parent-child connections - you know if that’s right? A person’s nephew would be at the third degree (segment to parent, segment from parent to sibling, segment from sibling to newphew). I don’t know what a degree of affinity is; maybe that means you can also use segments that are not parent-child connections? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/13 "2009-02-11T22:43:14Z")
I’m sure some Doper will come along with chapter and verse, but is it not the case that when juries were invented, they were originally filled with locals who presumably knew and / or were related to either the defendant or the victim or both? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/14 "2009-02-11T22:48:34Z")
From [here](http://www.mow.uscourts.gov/jury/history_jury_duty.htm) > [@](#): > > Thus, in the Eighteenth Century, Blackstone could commemorate the institution as part of a ‘‘strong and two-fold barrier . . . between the liberties of the people and the prerogative of the crown’’ because ‘‘the truth of every accusation . . . . [must] be confirmed by the unanimous suffrage of twelve of his equals **and neighbors** indifferently chosen and superior to all suspicion.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/15 "2009-02-11T23:02:53Z")
The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the cases were from an extremely rural area (we’ve got some of them in Maryland) such that there was a real risk of not being able to fill the venireage (the juror pool) otherwise. But even in this case, I’d be awfully surprised if the stories were true. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-connected-to-a-case-must-one-be-to-get-dropped-from-jury/485389/16 "2009-02-12T09:16:19Z")
Yeah, I can’t see how that would be allowed. I damn near got picked for a jury because a local doctor was testifying and I swear 3/4 of the jury pool saw him at one time or another. Had another case not plead out that morning we’d have run out of people.