Judge Jessica Peterson: So You’ve Been Summoned for Jury Duty | Legally Vegas Ep.12

the um there comes a point i mean eventually voir dire has to end right and so um we talked about it early on we said i mentioned that i was in the box right so there's this box in the courtroom i know your courtroom i've been in there has a box and so um how many seats are in the box what does it mean to be in the box

so there are 20 seats in the box okay um because each side generally gets four preempt or six preempts.

And so you have to get down to a certain number.

And so you, and then you have your alternates as well.

And so there are 20 seats in the box.

We, then just have a row up front that has usually six more seats in it.

And so it depends on...

Criminal trials are different than civil trials.

And so that's...

But those are the people that are essentially a lot of the times focused on because we think that those are the ones that are going to potentially be on the jury.

Now, in my courtroom, I do it a little bit differently.

I found...

By doing it this way, and it was funny, I've had a couple of attorneys say, I didn't think that that was going to actually work, and then it worked really well.

I ask the entire panel all of the hardship questions, all of the general questions that I'm going to ask, and then I ask the attorneys also, please ask your questions to the entire panel.

Ah, that's nice.

And the reason why is because then you don't end up, at the end with ultimately what we like to call the revolving seat.

Because that person comes in, they've heard, if they really don't want to be there, they've heard all of the reasons why the person that was sitting in that seat before has been let go.

And they will come up with those same answers.

So if you ask the entire panel, then nobody is knowing why they're being let go.

go in the end and you don't end up with that revolving seat.

So it takes a little bit more time up front, but it saves a massive amount of time on the back end.

I'm so glad that you do that because not every judge does that.

And I always say there's no right or wrong way to do this.

But not every judge allows us to question all the jurors that are in the courtroom.

Oftentimes, and the reason why it matters so much and why I was so excited to be in the box is because in a lot of courtrooms, the only people that get the initial questions are the ones that are in the box.

the um there comes a point i mean eventually voir dire has to end right and so um we talked about it early on we said i mentioned that i was in the box right so there's this box in the courtroom i know your courtroom i've been in there has a box and so um how many seats are in the box what does it mean to be in the box

so there are 20 seats in the box okay um because each side generally gets four preempt or six preempts.

And so you have to get down to a certain number.

And so you, and then you have your alternates as well.

And so there are 20 seats in the box.

We, then just have a row up front that has usually six more seats in it.

And so it depends on...

Criminal trials are different than civil trials.

And so that's...

But those are the people that are essentially a lot of the times focused on because we think that those are the ones that are going to potentially be on the jury.

Now, in my courtroom, I do it a little bit differently.

I found...

By doing it this way, and it was funny, I've had a couple of attorneys say, I didn't think that that was going to actually work, and then it worked really well.

I ask the entire panel all of the hardship questions, all of the general questions that I'm going to ask, and then I ask the attorneys also, please ask your questions to the entire panel.

Ah, that's nice.

And the reason why is because then you don't end up, at the end with ultimately what we like to call the revolving seat.

Because that person comes in, they've heard, if they really don't want to be there, they've heard all of the reasons why the person that was sitting in that seat before has been let go.

And they will come up with those same answers.

So if you ask the entire panel, then nobody is knowing why they're being let go.

go in the end and you don't end up with that revolving seat.

So it takes a little bit more time up front, but it saves a massive amount of time on the back end.

I'm so glad that you do that because not every judge does that.

And I always say there's no right or wrong way to do this.

But not every judge allows us to question all the jurors that are in the courtroom.

Oftentimes, and the reason why it matters so much and why I was so excited to be in the box is because in a lot of courtrooms, the only people that get the initial questions are the ones that are in the box.