Anxious jurors are a reality, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

Anxious jurors are a reality in criminal defense. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that such anxiety can be situational to the jury trial and deliberations themselves, and generalized to a juror’s overall life experience. Your Virginia criminal lawyer can make inquiries during voir dire / jury selection (watching out against unnecessarily alienating the venire jury panel) to determine the extent to which any potential jurors do or may experience anxiety that may or will be prejudicial to the criminal defendant. I am talking not only about anxiety that might happen in the courtroom, but also in the jury deliberation room and when the jury member is away from the courthouse waiting for the court proceedings to resume the next morning.

What can my Fairfax criminal lawyer do to reduce and avoid my jurors being unnecessarily anxious?

As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know you want your jurors to be focused on your case — especially on what your lawyer is saying and asking witnesses — rather than being distracted by anxiety. My great cross examination teacher Larry Pozner (who appears on my Beat The Prosecution podcast episode number 31) made the excellent point that his asymmetrical approach to cross examination reduces juror being anxious by making the evidence more understandable and logical to follow, to the defendant’s benefit. Let us take that to the bigger picture that you want your Fairfax criminal lawyer to be fully prepared for trial, fully focused at all times in court, and positively engaging with the jury that is beneficial to you. This means for you to beware of potential Virginia criminal defense lawyers who smile and assure you that everything will be okay in your criminal defense without clearly saying why. Neither smiles, pats on the back nor incantations win Virginia criminal trials. Your criminal defense lawyer needs to know how to try a criminal case, how to handle curveballs, and how to be persuasively calm and collected at all times.

How can my Fairfax criminal defense lawyer help take care of my jurors so that I am more likely to obtain the best possible trial outcome?

Talk to your Fairfax criminal lawyer about what can be done to make jurors more comfortable and less anxious in the courtroom and jury deliberation room, and less like fish out of water. This can start as simply as your lawyer asking jurors during the voir dire / jury selection process to ask for breaks if more are needed than what the judge sets aside (which could arise, for instance, with an unexpectedly full bladder). This can include encouraging the jury to take a sufficient number of breaks during jury deliberations. Yes, some or many jurors may wish to conclude the trial as quickly as possible so they can get on with their own lives, but jurors need to know that the criminal defense is on their side to make their role as reasonably comfortable and accommodated as possible.

What should my Fairfax criminal lawyer do if a juror expresses anxiety to the judge?

The federal appellate court in Richmond, Virginia, was faced with a bank fraud convict’s request to reverse his conviction for his trial judge’s removing a juror — during deliberations — who at first asked to be replaced by an alternative juror due to the requesting juror’s being anxious. U.S. v. Laffite, 121 F.4th 472 (4th Cir. 2024). However, upon judicial inquiry, the juror thought further, asserted that she was sufficiently stabilized with medication, and was able to sufficiently deliberate as jury member. Nonetheless, when the judge inquired further with “are you able to perform your duties as a juror?”, Juror No. 88 answered “At this point, no.” The judge then replaced Juror 88. In reversing Lafitte’s conviction, the appellate court states: “The district court heard directly from Juror No. 88 that her anxiety was related to her views of the case—no speculation was required.” This conviction reversal arises from the federal appellate court’s adopting and applying the approach that: “In light of the unanimous-jury requirement… ‘a court may not dismiss a juror during deliberations if the request for discharge stems from doubts the juror harbors about the sufficiency of the government’s evidence.'” Lafitte. 

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz has successfully defended at trial against hundreds of prosecutions. Make sure that your potential Virginia criminal defense lawyer knows how to try and case and will do so with sufficient ability and execution in your case. Call 703-383-1100 for your free in-person confidential consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending Virginia misdemeanor, felony or DUI prosecution.