A judge’s failure to ask prospective jurors if they respect a criminal defendant’s constitutional right not to testify is generally rendered harmless if the defendant does in fact take the stand at trial, a divided Maryland high court ruled this ...

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A defense attorney and a lawyer for the state battled at Maryland’s high court Monday over whether a judge’s failure to ask prospective jurors if they respect a criminal defendant’s constitutional right not to testify invalidates a subsequent conviction or ...

Tagged with: defendant's rights jury selection Kazadi voir dire

Judges have enormous discretion over the process of jury selection, resulting in different approaches across states, counties or even in neighboring courtrooms.

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Welcome to Monday, the 46th anniversary of the premiere of Saturday Night Live. Here are some news items to get your week started. — Arizona will eliminate peremptory challenges in move to end racial bias in jury selection. — Child ...

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Maryland’s top court will consider if judge’s failure to ask prospective jurors if they respect defendants' right not to testify is harmless if they do testify.

Tagged with: defendant's rights jury selection self-incrimination voir dire

About a dozen overturned convictions have followed the Maryland high court’s landmark decision last year requiring judges to ask prospective jurors – when requested by defense counsel – if they can presume the defendant innocent, require the prosecution to prove ...

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Montgomery County’s first criminal jury trial in a socially distanced world went “flawlessly,” and the selection of the masked jurors went “quicker than normal,” the county’s chief prosecutor said Thursday. State’s Attorney John McCarthy said the jury was selected within ...

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Maryland’s circuit courts will be ready to resume jury trials Oct. 5 in a socially distanced world by taking creative steps, such as converting firehouses to jury rooms, conducting jury selection via Zoom and having jurors sit and deliberate in ...

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ANNAPOLIS – A sharply divided Maryland high court ruled Friday that trial judges must ask prospective jurors – when requested by defense counsel – whether they can presume the defendant is innocent, require the prosecution to prove its case beyond ...

Tagged with: defendant's rights jury selection voir dire

Attention Maryland circuit court judges: The only way for you to ask prospective jurors if they have strong feelings about the crime charged is to ask them – without elaboration – “Do you have strong feelings about” the crime charged. ...

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