2.Voir Dire — Jurors 507 and 508
162 linesCOURT CLERK: 507.
COURT CLERK: Juror 507.
(The juror enters the courtroom.)
COURT CLERK: Sir, over here, please. Have a seat. Keep your voice up and speak into the mic so everyone around you can hear you, okay?
JUROR: Okay.
THE COURT: Good morning.
JUROR: Good morning.
THE COURT: Since you were last here, have you been able to avoid discussing the substance of the case with anyone?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: And also as much as you're able, to avoid any media coverage of the case, right?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: That's the questionnaire you filled out when you were last here, and we're going to follow up with some questions about some of the answers you gave there, all right?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: I want to start with your employment or unemployment situation. You indicate you're not currently employed?
JUROR: Currently I'm not working right now.
THE COURT: And I guess you haven't for a while?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: How are you getting along?
JUROR: I'm helping my sister. She owns a barber shop.
THE COURT: Okay. Are you looking for work?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: Would -- so the -- you know the schedule of the case is Monday through Thursday, nine to four, and on that schedule we think it may take -- it could take up to three or four months possibly to try. Would that interfere with your search?
JUROR: No, it wouldn't.
THE COURT: No?
You had -- you served on a jury once before in the state?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: Do you remember when that was?
JUROR: I think it was August -- no, March 7th.
THE COURT: Of?
JUROR: 2014.
THE COURT: Just last year?
JUROR: Yeah, last year.
THE COURT: And what was the court? Where were you?
JUROR: It was in -- oh, where was it? I can't remember right now.
THE COURT: Okay. So let me ask you to look at page 20, Question 77 near the top of the page.
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: In this question we asked whether, based on things you'd seen or read in the news or had information about from any source, you'd formed an opinion about whether the defendant was guilty or not and whether he should receive the death penalty or not.
JUROR: Okay.
THE COURT: Do you see that?
JUROR: Yeah.
THE COURT: And it's Parts A, B, C and D of the question?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: And you checked "unsure" to each of those.
Can you tell us what you were thinking when you made that selection?
JUROR: How can I say this? I guess -- how can I say this?
THE COURT: Let's just start with the first question. In Part A it asks whether you had formed an opinion about whether the defendant is guilty, and you said "unsure."
JUROR: Yes. Like I say, he's innocent until proven guilty.
THE COURT: Okay. You recognize that that's obviously a principle that we have --
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: -- in our justice system, and that when somebody's accused of a crime, that's the default position. They're innocent unless they're proven guilty, and it's the burden of the government to prove somebody guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by the evidence at trial. You know that?
And I guess the trial you served in was a criminal trial?
JUROR: Yes, it was.
THE COURT: You had that responsibility in that case?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: This case has had a lot of media coverage from the time it happened, and so it's not surprising if people have some ideas about the case from things they've seen or heard. What we would ask a juror to do is to put those things aside and to focus on the evidence in the case and to make a judgment only on the basis of what's presented in the course of the trial.
Do you think you'd be able to do that?
JUROR: Yes, I would be able to do that.
COURT CLERK: You have to speak into the mic so everyone can hear you.
JUROR: I'm sorry.
THE COURT: Why don't you repeat your answer so everyone can hear you.
JUROR: I would be able to do that, yes.
THE COURT: Let me ask you, if you'd look at the bottom of the page, Question 80, we asked if you or anybody you knew of or was close to you had witnessed the marathon bombings personally.
JUROR: Yes, I have.
THE COURT: And you said you have a friend who, I guess --
JUROR: His wife was running in the marathon and he was there.
THE COURT: Where was he?
JUROR: I don't remember what part he was. All he told me that he heard a big bang and he got scared and started looking for her.
THE COURT: Okay. Did he find her?
JUROR: Yeah, he found her. Yes.
THE COURT: Have you talked with him extensively about that or briefly or --
JUROR: No, not really.
THE COURT: Just -- how do you know about it, I guess? He must have described it to you.
JUROR: Well, I met him because I play in a league with him, and that's when he told me.
THE COURT: When was it with relation to the marathon? Shortly afterwards, a while afterwards?
JUROR: I'm going to say probably like a week.
THE COURT: Okay. What do you do with him? You play --
JUROR: Pool. In a league, pool.
THE COURT: Pool? Shooting pool?
JUROR: Yes, in a league. Sorry, sorry.
THE COURT: Okay. So you met him, you know, when your league was playing and he told you about it?
JUROR: Yes, he told me about it.
THE COURT: Have you talked about it since then with him?
JUROR: No.
THE COURT: How close a friend is he?
JUROR: I've known him for nine years.
THE COURT: Through the pool or otherwise?
JUROR: Oh, no, otherwise. From a long time ago.
THE COURT: If you'd turn to the next page, Question 82, we asked whether you or people around you had taken part in any of what we may call support activities afterwards, you know, Boston Strong T-shirts or contributions to the One Fund and so on. And you said yes, they have. Can you tell us what you were indicating there?
JUROR: How can I say this? I know -- who was it? My sister, she -- I forgot the fund-raiser. I forgot the name. She helped support a few of them. I'm trying to think.
THE COURT: Okay. Did you yourself contribute to or participate in any of the activities?
JUROR: No.
THE COURT: Do you reside with your sister?
JUROR: Not really.
THE COURT: No? Okay.
If you'd turn to page 23, beginning at Question 88 we asked a series of questions about attitudes about the death penalty. 88 itself asks if you had any views about the death penalty in general, what are they, and you said, "I don't have any views on the death penalty."
Is that a fair statement of your attitude?
JUROR: Yes, it is.
THE COURT: We then asked you in the next question to see if you might indicate on a scale of 1 to 10 where you might be in terms of being opposed or in favor. You selected Number 7.
What do you think that -- how does that place you on a scale, do you think?
JUROR: I would say if it came down to it, I would say yes.
THE COURT: Okay. Let's look at the next page. Question 90 was a long question. If you want -- actually, why don't you just take a minute to review that question and then we'll talk about your answer there.
JUROR: (Complies.)
THE COURT: Okay?
JUROR: Yeah.
THE COURT: So you selected D?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: "I'm not for or against the death penalty. I could vote for it," or you could vote for life imprisonment, whichever you thought was called for by the facts and the law in the case?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: Now do you think that represents your --
JUROR: My answer? Yes.
THE COURT: So you heard me describe what we call the penalty phase today, and the government will produce what it will characterize as evidence of aggravating factors and the defense will produce mitigating and you'll weigh all that. And are you telling us you are prepared, depending on your evaluation of that evidence, to vote in either direction?
JUROR: Either direction, yes.
THE COURT: Either for the death penalty or for life imprisonment?
JUROR: Or life in prison, yes.
THE COURT: If you'd go to the bottom of page 25, Question 95, we asked if you found the defendant guilty and decided that the death penalty was the appropriate punishment, could you conscientiously vote for the death penalty, and you said "not sure." And then if you look at the next page at the top, we asked the other side of that question: If you found the defendant guilty and decided that life imprisonment without possibility of release was the appropriate sentence, could you vote conscientiously for that penalty, and you said "yes."
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: So there's a little bit of a difference between --
JUROR: Yeah, I see that.
THE COURT: Can you tell us about that?
(Pause.)
MR. BRUCK: Your Honor, the parties are satisfied with this juror.
THE COURT: I would like to see if...
(Pause.)
JUROR: I will say at the time I was -- I would either decide life imprisonment or death penalty.
THE COURT: Okay. All right. Thank you.
JUROR: Yup.
(The juror exits the courtroom.)
MS. CONRAD: Judge, could we have a quick sidebar on this next juror, 512?
THE COURT: I have 508.
COURT CLERK: 508.
MS. CONRAD: Oh, I'm sorry.
COURT CLERK: 508.
COURT CLERK: Juror 508.
(The juror enters the courtroom.)
COURT CLERK: Ma'am, over here, please, if you would. Have a seat, make sure you keep your voice up and speak into the mic so everyone can hear you.
THE COURT: Good morning.
JUROR: Good morning.
THE COURT: Since you were last here, have you been able to avoid discussion of the merits of the case or substance of the case?
JUROR: As much as possible until I found out that you were seating for this jury.
THE COURT: Yeah. So have you -- since you were here --
JUROR: Right.
THE COURT: -- have you talked about --
JUROR: No.
THE COURT: -- the substance of the case with anyone?
JUROR: No. No, I'm sorry.
THE COURT: And avoid media coverage as well?
JUROR: Yes, as much as I can.
THE COURT: Have you had some occasions when it's come to your attention?
JUROR: Yeah, like when you're on the smartphone or you're watching the news, then it pops up. But I try to avoid it.
THE COURT: Put it away or go in the other room or whatever?
JUROR: Put it away, yes.
THE COURT: So that's the questionnaire, and we're going to follow up on some of the things you told us in the questionnaire.
I want to start with your employment and -- well, let's just start there. Tell me what you do.
JUROR: I'm a program administrator for a defense contractor in Cambridge. They do research and development. They're mainly an engineering firm.
THE COURT: Okay. If you want to look at page 5, Question 10, you were concerned -- because your employment is your source of income and so on and you were concerned about serving on a long case like this and how it would affect you.
JUROR: Right.
THE COURT: Have you talked about that with your employer?
JUROR: No, I haven't. But I did look up the policy for serving on a jury, and it's just -- they pay me for three days and that's it. So I wouldn't get paid for sitting on the jury.
THE COURT: And you haven't followed up with that?
JUROR: No, I haven't.
THE COURT: Have you talked to coworkers or anything?
JUROR: No. Well, I mentioned it to coworkers if I got seated, and everyone's looked up the policy and they agree with me it would just be the three days they would pay me, and that's it.
THE COURT: So I would gather, then, that long service would be detrimental?
JUROR: It could be an issue, yes.
THE COURT: Thank you. That's all I have.
(The juror exits the courtroom.)
THE COURT: Hold on a minute.
COURT CLERK: Off the record?
THE COURT: I guess so.
COURT CLERK: Cut.