Dominguez v. Shaw et al

Filing 74

ORDER DENYING the parties' joint motion to use a confidential jury questionnaire to conduct juror voir dire (doc. 73 ). Signed by Judge Frederick J Martone on 1/17/2012.(KMG)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Margaret Dominguez, individually and on)
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behalf of S.D., a minor child,
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Plaintiffs,
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vs.
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Andrew Shaw; Kreg Klein; Alfonso)
Flores; Johnathon Conn; City of Phoenix;)
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Unknown Denny,
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Defendants.
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CV 10-01173-PHX-FJM
ORDER

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The court has before it the parties' joint motion to use a confidential jury questionnaire
to conduct juror voir dire (doc. 73).

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This action arises out of plaintiffs' arrests by the defendant officers. Trial is set to

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begin on March 20, 2012. The parties ask that we create and distribute a confidential jury

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questionnaire in advance of jury selection to conduct voir dire. They believe that use of a

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questionnaire will assist in making voir dire efficient and will encourage more candid

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reactions from potential jurors concerning police officers and those convicted of crimes. We

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appreciate and share in the parties' desire for efficient and informative voir dire proceedings.

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However, we do not see a need to depart from our usual voir dire practice by utilizing a

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questionnaire that would need to be drafted, disseminated, and reviewed prior to the start of

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voir dire proceedings. Our experience in most cases - including those involving allegations

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against police officers - is that voir dire can be efficiently conducted and completed within

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a few hours. And we have not found that hearing potential jurors answering questions in

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open court has tainted other potential jurors. The burden of using a questionnaire outweighs

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the benefits in all but the most unusual case.

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As detailed in our Rule 16 order (doc. 22), the parties may submit proposed case-

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specific voir dire questions when submitting their joint proposed pre-trial order. We will

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review these submissions and will discuss our voir dire practice at the final pretrial

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conference.

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IT IS ORDERED DENYING the parties' joint motion to use a confidential jury
questionnaire to conduct juror voir dire (doc. 73).
DATED this 17th day of January, 2012.

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