Washington, DC, December 14, 1995 -- Federal courts should be required to permit
attorneys to participate in pretrial questioning of jurors in criminal trials, prominent
Northern California attorney James Farragher Campbell will urge a federal judicial
panel at a hearing in Oakland, California on Friday. Campbell will testify on behalf
of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).
"To render effective assistance of counsel, an attorney must have the opportunity
to uncover bias among jurors," Campbell, a partner in the San Francisco law firm of
Campbell & DeMetrick, is expected to tell the panel. "Attorneys for the parties in a
case are in a much better position to accomplish this than the presiding judge, because
they know more about the facts of the case and they have their clients' vital interests
to protect," he added.
Campbell's comments will come at a hearing scheduled by a committee of federal
judges who advise the Judicial Conference of the United States on proposed changes
in the rules governing federal trials. The Judicial Conference is considering amending
Rule 24(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to require judges to allow
attorneys for defendants and the government to play an active role in voir dire, the
process of questioning jurors to discover prejudice before a trial begins. The current
rule permits, but does not require, judges to do so.
The hearing, which will take place in the auditorium of the U.S. Courthouse, 1301
Clay Street, in Oakland, California, will provide an opportunity for public comment
on the proposed rule change. It begins at 8:30 a.m. on Friday and is expected to
conclude around noon.
NACDL has long advocated attorney-conducted voir dire in federal criminal trials.
Studies have shown that jurors are much more revealing of their true attitudes when
they respond to open-ended questions posed by the lawyers in a case than when asked
'yes or no' questions by the judge. For that reason, as Campbell will remind the
judges, "rather than prolonging trials, attorney questioning of potential jurors is the
most efficient way to insulate juries from the constitutionally-forbidden influence of
prejudice."
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)