Voir Dire Questions for Drug Cases

From the book Picking Juries in Drug Cases by, Rick R. Fuentes

(to be propounded to the entire panel)

• Raise your hand if you believe that the single most important virtues children should learn are obedience and respect.

• Raise your hand if you believe that people can basically be divided into two classes; the weak and the strong.

• Raise your hand if you believe that every person should have complete faith in a supernatural power whose decision is obeyed without question.

 • Does anyone here have a close friend or family member who has served time in jail or prison related to possession or sale of drugs? What is their relation to you?

• Have you ever had a particularly positive experience with a police officer or law enforcement officer?

• Anyone close to you work in law enforcement?

• How many of you would question the testimony of a convicted felon who is testifying for the government in a drug case?

• How many of you would give less credibility to the testimony of a witness who has been promised a reduced sentence in conjunction with testifying against the defendant in this case. In other words, if he testifies against my client, his own punishment will be reduced.

• Raise your hand if you believe that the government at times abuses the rights of its citizens in its attempts to enforce the drug laws

• Raise your hand if you think police and law enforcement should be given more latitude to arrest illegal drug users.

• Raise your hand if you are OK with police officers stopping a vehicle if the driver or passengers “look suspicious” to the officer.

• Raise your hand if you agree that way too many criminals get off because of technicalities.

• Raise your hand if you are against legalizing even small amounts of marijuana.

• Raise your hand if you are against legalizing even small amounts of marijuana for medicinal reasons.

• Raise your hand if you believe that possession of drugs for personal use should be legalized.

• Raise your hand if you feel that any use of illegal drugs is immoral

• Raise your hand if you feel that any use of illegal drugs is a sin

• Raise your hand if you feel that consumption of alcohol is immoral

• Raise your hand if you feel that consumption of alcohol is a sin

• Raise your hand if you believe that the laws governing marijuana should be just as strict or severe as the laws governing other types of illegal drugs

• How many of you feel that drug addiction is more of a choice on the part of an individual than an illness?

• How many of you feel that drug addiction is more the result of choices by an individual than it is an illness or disorder?

• How many of you feel that the government should provide clean needles to addicts free of cost in order to prevent illnesses such as HIV infection and Hepatitis?

• How many of you oppose the distribution by the government of needles to addicts?

• Raise your hand if you support the idea that the government should regulate and tax the sale of marijuana and make it legal to possess and consume?

• Raise your hand if you support the idea that the government should regulate and tax the sale of other drugs besides marijuana and make them legal to possess and consume?

• How many of you have heard of the term "The War on Drugs"?

• Of those who raised their hand to the last question, how many of you would say that "The War on Drugs" has not been successful?

• What is the bigger problem in this country with respect to illicit drugs:
We spend too much money enforcing the laws and putting people in jail or we don't allocate enough money and resources to really make a big enough impact in slowing down or stopping the drug trade?

• How many people agree with this statement,
"The root cause of the drug problem in this country is related to the fact that so many drugs are smuggled into this country every year."

• How many people agree with this statement,
"The most important cause or factor in the drug problems of this country is that the American people as a whole consume too many drugs."

• Please raise your hand if you believe that private recreational use of drugs by citizens has negative effects on non-users.

• How many of you feel that the government does a "fair" or "good" job of enforcing the drug laws in that it balances the needs of our society as a whole while it protects the legitimate freedoms of individuals?

• What is your opinion about penalties for possession of illegal drugs. Raise your hand if you think they are too harsh?..., too light?...., about right?

• Raise your hand if you or any close friends or family members have ever been arrested or charged with illegal possession of drugs.

• Raise your hand if you or any close friends or family members have ever suffered from problems related to substance abuse. What was your relationship with the person?

• Has anyone here or any close friends or family members ever participated in a substance abuse counseling or rehabilitation program?

• Does anyone here have training or education in the area of drug or substance abuse? What specific background courses/training have you had?

• Has anyone here ever been employed in a drug rehabilitation program as a counselor or in any other capacity?

• Please raise your hand if you are familiar with the drug known as "crystal meth" or "crank." For those of you who raised your hands, please tell us, if you can recall, when you first heard of this drug and describe the extent of your knowledge about it.

• How often do you drink alcoholic beverages:
Never;
Rarely;
Sometimes;
Regularly

• Raise your hand if you never tried/experimented with marijuana

• How often do you attend religious services?

• Are you a member of church, synagogue, temple, mosque (which one)?

 • What are the ages of your children?

• Do you plan to have children in the future (for those who have no children and are of child rearing age)?

 A reminder note on how to score/evaluate jurors: note each favorable/unfavorable response and add them together to arrive at a juror “score.”