Jury Selection For Domestic Violence Charges

A domestic violence trial in Florida begins with jury selection.  A group of potential jurors is brought into the courtroom and each side has an opportunity to ask potential jurors questions to determine if a person is someone that one side wants to be on the jury to decide the case.  This is called voir dire.  Each side has what is called challenges which allows them to exclude a person from being on the jury to decide the case.  There are two types of challenges, challenges for cause and peremptory challenges.  Challenges for cause can be used for many reasons but are normally used because the person is not able to be fair and impartial as a juror in the case. Challenges for cause are unlimited for both sides.  Peremptory challenges can be exercised by each side for any reason as long as the reason is race neutral.  Peremptory challenges are limited in number for both sides, but the same number for each side.  An example of a challenge for cause would be because the potential juror is a friend of one of the law enforcement officers who is going to testify in the case.  An example of a peremptory challenge in a case is because the person has a family member who was a victim of domestic violence and has donated money to a domestic violence shelter in a case where the case involves domestic violence charges.  This potential juror may be able to be struck for cause for not being able to be fair and impartial in the case but if not this is the type of juror a defendant would want to use a peremptory challenge on to exclude them from being a juror in the trial. Jury selection is a very important part of a trial in a domestic violence case.  If you would like to discuss how I can help, the consultation is free.  Please call me at 407-740-8300, text me at 407-616-8808 or email me at [email protected].

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