Jon Fox Speaks on Jury Selection at WACDL Seminar

The Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers seminar "Trial Skills" was held on May 15, 2009 in SeaTac. Jon Scott Fox and partner Francisco Duarte lectured for approximately on the topic "Truth or Dare - Voir Dire." The seminar was well attended and Mr. Fox spoke about a new approach to jury selection which emphasizes cutting through the answers that jurors know they are "supposed to give" during jury selection. Using this process, an attorney will discuss with a potential juror the true feelings that a juror brings into the courtroom. Whereas the law requires a juror to presume the innocence of a citizen who is the subject of a DUI arrest, the truth is that most jurors come into the courtroom presuming that the person identified as "the defendant" must be guilty of something or he wouldn't be there. During the seminar, Mr. Fox and Mr. Duarte discussed techniques through which a meaningful discussion with jurors regarding their real feelings about DUI arrests might occur. It is only through this process that a DUI defense attorney will have a chance to win a DUI jury trial.