Lawyers on both sides are highly aware of the dangers of jury contamination and go to great lengths to prevent it. Jury contamination is known as the potential of a single juror infecting the entire panel with firmly held viewpoints. The contamination could happen in different ways; one is through personal experiences that the juror may not be aware of but is still tainting their point of view. Another is through personal beliefs that they are aware of but may not realize how damaging their preconceived notion is. An example of the former is “I hurt my leg in a car accident years ago, and it still hurts sometimes. No one paid me for that.” Or the belief that awarding damages would allow for the injured party to be paid twice as “their insurance probably already paid for it.” An example of the latter would be the belief that these types of trials do nothing except make lawyers richer and jack up insurance prices. No matter the kind of bias, any of them could affect the outcome of the trial.
Another reason to look out for extreme viewpoints is that an extremist can alienate like-minded jurors. People who may share a similar ideology can quickly be put off their initial train of thought in an effort to avoid being grouped in someone they view as irrational. Opinions and attitudes expressed by a juror can influence and even change their fellow juror’s attitudes, just not always in the way people assume. It should be noted that it is rare that a juror with extreme views is to be able to change the way a complete stranger views the world. It is also possible that extreme views may be expressed in an attempt to avoid jury duty.
Undoubtedly, jury selection is one of the most important skills that your civil trial lawyer can master to greatly help your chances of recovering damages for your injuries caused by someone else’s negligence. If you have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, contact a personal injury lawyer from Darfoor Law Firm for a free consultation toll free at 833-DARFOOR or 754-812-8444.
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