New California Jury Selection Laws – CCP 231.7
Defense attorneys now have a new tool to prevent bias during criminal trial jury selection. Like most places, California reacted to recent troubling incidents against minorities. The state has implemented new laws addressing implicit racial discrimination throughout the criminal justice system. The new jury selection laws aim to prevent prosecutors from disqualifying jurors because they are a member of a protected class.
Protection From Disqualifying Jurors Due to Race
The new California jury selection law addresses potential biases based on your race, ethnicity, or national origin. Jury selection is the process through which citizens are given the responsibility to judge a trial. Prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys often spar over sitting certain individuals as jurors for a wide variety of reasons.
During the jury selection process, each side attempts to select jurors they believe are more likely to rule in their favor. However, historically prosecutors have disqualified potential jurors simply because they are a particular race or ethnicity. When attempting to convict a minority defendant, a prosecutor may try to avoid any jurors with similar characteristics or backgrounds.
The new California jury selection law gives defense attorneys new tools to question why a prosecutor disqualified a specific individual.
Jury Selection Law No Longer Allows the Consideration of Certain Characteristics
For decades, prosecutors have offered reasons for disqualifying individuals that barely hold water. Now, defense attorneys can directly attack the motive of the district attorney.
The new law bans prosecutors from kicking out a juror by citing certain characteristics. These characteristics were often pretext for getting rid of a juror because of their race or ethnicity. Some of these characteristics include:
- Body language
- Slouching
- Looking angry
- Not making eye contact
- Interactions with the judge or district attorney
- Crossed arms
- Relaxed or unfocused disposition.
Now, the new law creates a presumption that if a district attorney boots a potential juror for one of the above reasons (or similar codewords), they did it based on the juror’s race, ethnicity, or national origin.
The presumption can be rebutted, but now your defense attorney can force the prosecutor to provide a racially neutral reason for why they want the juror removed, and their explanation must have more support than simply citing body language or something similar.
Defense Attorney Can Question Prosecution’s Reasons
Another part of California’s new jury selection laws allows your defense team to attack the prosecution’s motive in attempted to exclude a juror if it appears to be based on a protected class. This is a powerful tool that can prevent racially motivated jury selection.
For example, imagine that the district attorney just approved having a white, middle-aged schoolteacher as a juror. A few potential jurors later, the prosecutor is questioning an Asian, middle-aged schoolteacher. After going through all the standard questions, including the same ones the prosecutor asked the white teacher, they dismiss the potential juror.
Now, your defense attorney can immediately ask the district attorney to further explain their decision-making. If the prosecutor says something such as “well, I dismissed her because she teaches school,” everyone will know what is happening. The prosecutor simply did not want an Asian woman on that jury. The new jury selection laws will force prosecutors to justify questionable dismissals in non-coded language. The fact defense attorneys may call the prosecutor out can be enough incentive to avoid bias-based decisions in some cases.
If you or a loved one has an upcoming jury trial or thinks they want a jury trial, in Orange County, California, Chambers Law Firm can explain the benefits of the new laws. Schedule a fee-free initial meeting by calling 714-760-4088 or emailing dchambers@clfca.com now!
