Word: venireman
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...Sirhan, one of the few outward clues to his state of mind came when an assistant district attorney, David Fitts, pointed out to one venireman that Sirhan had smiled at him. Could the prospective juror bring in a death sentence against a man who smiled at him? Looking up, Sirhan made his first remark of the trial. "I smile at you too, Mr. Fitts," he said...
Embarrassment. No answer. Excused. And so, on to the next venireman in the subtle search for twelve jurors who could rightly claim to be "impartial" about the case of Richard Speck, accused of murdering eight student nurses in Chicago last July. Not one of the prospective jurors could claim that he had never heard of the case; each had to be examined closely by prosecution and defense to discover whether he had formed an opinion and how it might affect him in reaching a verdict. The selection process, called voir dire, ran through 27 days and 610 prospective jurors before...
...answer by itself did not satisfy Martin. He rejected many a positive-sounding venireman because his manner showed a sign of unsureness that might possibly aid the defense. To confirm it. he asked: "Would you sign a verdict of death?" Faced with that specter of personal responsibility, some veniremen backed down...
...assumed a worldly, fatherly air: "Look," he said at one point, "I'm charged with defending this guy, and I don't want twelve persons in there with fixed opinions, do I?" Man to man, he reasoned with would-be jurors. "And you," he said to one venireman, "would you have difficulty in presuming Richard Speck innocent...
Getty then went over all the possible verdicts Speck might receive, asking whether the venireman would be willing to sign "not guilty" if he was in doubt and whether he would accept a jail sentence instead of death if Speck was found guilty. The venireman insisted that he could sign "not guilty," and that he could agree to a jail sentence. Getty asked the question again; suddenly the man did a turnabout, blurting out that the only verdict he could accept was the death penalty. Excused, for cause...