Jury psychology plays role in civil cases

                        
Most people have seen television shows that feature jurors listening to lawyers talk about criminal cases, but juries are also used for civil cases, which generally have to do with contract disputes or injury cases, such as from traffic accidents. A jury role in a criminal case is very different from its role in a civil case. In a criminal case, a jury must decide guilt or innocence that may result in the loss of someone’s freedom, whereas civil cases generally have to do with who owes money to whom. This article will address what lawyers must consider when preparing cases before juries in civil cases.
Q: Why are juries used to decide cases?
A: The jury concept was originally devised as a safeguard for citizens against tyranny and to help ensure that controversies were decided justly and without political or other influences that had nothing to do with the controversy itself. The right to a trial by jury remains an essential aspect of the American legal system. The law does not require a jury to decide cases, but generally, if either party in a dispute asks for a jury, a jury will hear the case.
Q: What must attorneys consider when preparing for cases involving a jury?
A: Since juries are made up of persons chosen randomly from lists of registered voters or licensed drivers, attorneys must consider how a particular side of the case or controversy might appear to such a random cross-section of the community. Jurors bring varying life experience, beliefs, prejudices, and biases, and while all jurors swear to be impartial, all of them analyze evidence in light of their own experiences and biases. Therefore, lawyers on both sides of the controversy will try to anticipate the potential experiences and biases of the jurors and prepare accordingly.
Q: Is jury behavior predictable?
A: Jurors generally try to do their best, but the legal process and the judge’s instructions may be foreign or confusing and a juror’s good intentions to be objective and follow directions can easily give way to influences of bias, personal experience, and gut reactions to what the juror is hearing in the courtroom. Therefore, it is safe to say that jury behavior is not very predictable.
This Law You Can Use column was provided by the Ohio State Bar Association. It was prepared by C. Bruce Williams, partner in the Salem firm of Williams & Apple Co., LPA. The column offers general information about the law. Seek an attorney’s advice before applying this information to a legal problem.


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