Voir-dire questions checklist

Voir-dire questions checklist

The following questions, among others, may be asked of potential jurors by defense counsel in a computer crime case:

• Have you read anything in the newspapers or in any magazine, or seen or heard anything on radio or television, concerning this case?
• Are you acquainted with or related to any law enforcement officers?
• Have you previously sat on a jury in a criminal case?
• Have you ever been in a courtroom as a witness in a criminal case?
• Do you know any of the defendants or any of their relatives?
• Do you understand that the presumption of innocence is treated as evidence and that the prosecutor must overcome the presumption with evidence which counters it?
• Have you talked with anyone about this case prior to coming to court?
• Have you ever done any law enforcement work?
• Do you have any opinions concerning the efforts of the courts to protect the rights of defendants that might influence your decision in this case?
• Do you understand that there are two sides in any criminal trial and that the prosecution always presents its side first?
• Do you appreciate that a jury could be prejudiced if it heard only one side of the case and that you must keep an open and free mind throughout the entire trial?
• If we, the defense, are not able to establish who committed the crime, will you hold that against us?
• If you were to find yourself outnumbered during deliberation in the jury room, would you join the others in their verdict merely because of this fact?
• Do you understand that a grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt?
• If all the evidence by the prosecutor is circumstantial and points equally towards innocence and guilt, do you understand that you must vote for innocence?
• If my client decides to exercise his or her constitutional right not to take the stand and speak in his or her own behalf, will you hold that against him or her in reaching your verdict?
• Have you studied any accounting, or done any work with accountants?
• Have you done any work with EDP Auditors?
• Have you done any work with investigative accountants?
• This case involves accounting. If there is a question, which cannot be answered from the evidence before the court, will you try to supplement that evidence from what you happen to know as an accountant?
• Do you realize that the only evidence that can be used in your deliberations is the evidence brought before the court, and that you are obligated not to make use of your particular knowledge in the jury room since you have not been a witness in this case?
• Have you done any computer programming?
• Have you done any work involving computers?
• Have you used computers to any appreciable degree?
• Does anyone in your family use computers in their work?
• Have you ever been annoyed by someone using a computer?
• Have you ever wished that your job would be replaced by a computer? Have you ever feared that it would?
• Have ever complained about violations of your privacy by people using computers?
• Have you ever felt yourself cheated and been told that the problem was the result of a computer error?
• Have you ever been beaten in chess by a computer?
• Do your children have computer games?
• Do your children understand computing better than you?
• Are you afraid of computers?

The following questions may be asked if the defendant is one of several being charged with computer crime:

• Do you understand that each defendant is being tried here as if he or she were being tried alone?
• Do you understand that the defendants in this case are being tried jointly solely for the convenience of the prosecution?
• Do you feel that you will be able to analyze the evidence as it pertains to the conduct of each defendant as this trial progresses?
• If you were to find that the bulk of the evidence pointed in favor of conviction of the other defendants in the case, do you feel that you could still maintain an open mind as to the guilt or innocence of my client?