Who are the ideal jurors? How are jurors selected?

Naturally, each attorney wants to select jurors who that attorney believes will be favorable to his or her client’s case. The judicial system, on the other hand, hopes to get jurors (1) who will bring no agenda with them and evaluate the case solely on the evidence presented; (2) who will follow the judge’s instructions carefully, and (3) who will deliberate with an open mind, listening to fellow jurors.

The judge asks questions of prospective jurors, both collectively and individually. These questions are designed to learn any potential biases that jurors may have, such as being related to someone involved in the case, or someone with a professional affiliation, such as a police officer in a criminal case or a doctor in a medical malpractice case.

In Maryland, the judge asks the questions, which prospective jurors answer on the record under oath. There is an unlimited number of “strikes for cause,” meaning the ruling out of prospective jurors who demonstrate through their answers that they may not be able or willing to decide the case in a neutral, unbiased fashion.

In addition, in criminal cases in Maryland, there are peremptory strikes. These may be exercised for any reason. However, based on a 1985 Supreme Court case, peremptory strikes may not be exercised “solely” because of the race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or gender of the prospective juror. If one side in a case believes that the other side is improperly exercising peremptory strikes and can make a preliminary showing to that effect, the judge will require the other side to explain why it believes that it is exercising peremptory strikes properly.

In criminal cases in Maryland, the number of peremptory strikes is 10 for the prosecution and 20 for the defense in a capital case, five for the prosecution and 10 for the defense in a case with at least a 20-year maximum sentence on any one count, and four for each side in other cases. Strikes are made on an alternating basis. Most attorneys in most cases use most of their strikes.

Source: Professor Byron L. Warnken, University of Baltimore School of Law and principal in Warnken, LLC, in Towson, Maryland;  

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