Jury selection is really Jury de-selection
In the most recent medical malpractice case tried in Missouri, Keith Short had sixteen juror members state that they could not be fair and impartial to his client. Those jurors were stricken for cause.
Jury selection can really be considered jury “de-selection.” The process of jury selection requires an attorney to try and figure out the thoughts and motives of the jury panel. The attorneys need to be able to pick the best jury panel given any situation they can be in. Although Mr. Short had sixteen jury members stricken for cause, there are other jurors that he still has to watch out for.
Jurors will not always state their true opinions on matters. Thus, when Mr. Short does the selection process he is really looking for the ones that could harm his case the most and tries to get those potential jurors off of the jury panel. In jury selection, the attorneys aren’t focused on selecting the best possible juror, they are more focused on getting the juror will not be fair to their client off of the panel.
In a case where the odds were completely against him and the majority of the jurors could not be fair to his client, Mr. Short fought zealously for his client.