Voir dire, derived from Latin, means “speak the truth.” The purpose of this article is to discuss the current status of voir dire in New Jersey and some strategies for conducting jury selection in the Garden State.
Since State v. Manley, 54 N.J. 259, 281 (1969), was decided nearly 50 years ago, voir dire has been conducted by trial court judges rather than by counsel. Conduct of voir dire was wrested from counsel ostensibly because jury selection was taking too long and lawyers were blatantly attempting to persuade the venire pool from the outset. (The federal courts too have long adopted a practice of the court conducing voir dire.) Despite the limited contact lawyers have with potential jurors during voir dire, there are some strategies for counsel to help select and deselect jurors. Trial practice in many other states does not insulate the jurors from the lawyers, which permits trial counsel full-throated opportunity to question the jurors directly. The National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and other trial training groups advise that a trial lawyer must persuade the jury venire from the outset, and most importantly during voir dire. Efforts to persuade the jurors before they are sworn in are essentially prohibited under New Jersey and federal practice.
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