However, the attorneys selecting jurors don’t have 100% control over which persons are chosen to serve on a jury. Each party in a case has a certain number of juror challenges to be used. These are referred to as “peremptory challenges,” and no reason need be given for excluding a particular juror. For example, in a personal injury case, the plaintiff’s attorney may want to exclude a prospective juror who works for an insurance company, fearing that an insurance industry employee may be unsympathetic to an injury claim.
While selecting a jury, an attorney representing one of the parties may dislike four prospective jurors, but only be entitled to three peremptory challenges.
How else to explain why I was chosen as a juror this past week in Coeur d’Alene jury trial? I was pretty sure that one of the attorneys in this trial would exclude me from the jury, and was shocked when I ended up as one of the six members of the jury.
My experience serving on this jury has increased my respect and appreciation for the system of trial by jury. All of the jurors were very attentive, followed the judge’s instructions and carefully reviewed the evidence. All of the jurors were polite in deliberations, as they exchanged views and carefully weighed the evidence. At the end of the day I was confident that justice had been served.