Handling Juror Strikes

Gary: The statute says, these are for cause strikes, that no person who has formed or expressed an opinion concerning the matter that may influence the judgment of such person shall be sworn in as a juror. That’s pretty low standard. And what I have on the back of my voir dire, not to tip off any lawyers I’m about to try a case against over here in three weeks again, is that when I get someone whose proclaiming something that may exclude them. I have a little sheet where it’s my how to close the door on a juror. It’s my go-to questions, and I say things like (and you heard me the last time, remember, at least you know what it is) is I say, they say, “Well, I’m a little reluctant to award pain and suffering. How do I quantify? You know what, I think I need more than 51% to award these kind of damages. You know what, I’ve been a defendant in a case or plaintiff in a case, so I may have some views about that,” and then you say, “How long are those views important to you? Do you hold them tightly? Have you held them for a long time? I take it in three days those aren’t gonna go away from you. You’re gonna have those views. That’s part of who you are. It’s important to keep your integrity in this process, right? You’re not gonna give away those views just because some judge tells you to, that you don’t like pain and suffering damages. No, you’re right. I’m not going to, and you would want to have to in this case, would you? So, you have your rules,” and you get them really saying, “You know what, I believe this stuff. It is what it is. Thank you for your candor.” And you explain to jurors at the beginning, you say, “Listen, you guys are all qualified jurors, but you may be a better juror for a different kind of case. If I was a victim of a crime, I may not be a good person in a criminal case. You’re qualified as a juror, but you may be better qualified in other cases, so my questions are to find out whether you’re best qualified in this case,” and then I do all this work, and I get them to say other stuff, and the defense lawyer gets up and says, “Can you be unfair and partial? Yes.” Boom. They’re not the juror.

Casey: Or what the defense lawyer says, but if the judge, I understand you said all those personal feelings, but if the judge gives you the law, you’d follow the law, wouldn’t you?

Gary: Absolutely!

Casey: Oh yeah! Yes, I would follow.

Gary: Because who’s gonna raise their hand and say they’re not fair? Who’s gonna say they won’t follow them? No one, never, but there are a lot of cases that say that you can’t use leading questions to adjourn, to rehabilitate them…

Gary Burger

Founder | Injury Attorney
Gary Burger has dedicated his career to standing up against bullies. The founder and principal attorney of Burger Law | St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer has helped hundreds of Missouri and Illinois individuals and families recover th …
Years of experience: 30 years
Location: St. Louis, MO

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