Michael Jackson’s doctor on trial: An inside look at picking the jury

A panel of 12 jurors and five alternates was selected in one day in what Deputy DA Dave Walgren called the “courtroom version of speed dating.” Judge Pastor questioned jurors briefly, extracting individual assurances that jurors, who had filled out their questionnaires a few weeks ago, did so under penalties of perjury and could be fair in the trial. Lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff then addressed the panel of 27 jurors for 20 minutes followed by Walgren for another 20 minutes. Attorneys then began to exercise their 10 peremptory challenges. As each juror was excused, another juror was called to fill the seat so that there were 27 jurors at all times. Questioning of new jurors was under 20 minutes.

By the end of the day, both sides had exercised all 10 peremptories. They had an additional strike for every alternate seat. Six alternates were selected but one was excused for undisclosed reasons. The trial will proceed with five alternates.

The gender breakdown is seven men and five women. The alternates include three women and two men. There is one African-American on the jury; he’s one of the seven men.

Voir Dire by the attorneys

Ed Chernoff asked some questions during voir dire that give some insight into the defense. He told the panel that part of this trial will be about Michael Jackson and certain things that happened to him prior to his death. They may be things people don’t want brought out but they’re relevant, he said. Chernoff then asked how many of them never read or heard anything about Jackson’s lifestyle, personality, etc. No one raised their hand. Chernoff continued:

• Do you think Michael Jackson is more innocent than most people?
• Does anybody here believe Michael Jackson is less capable of making decisions than somebody else?
• Does anyone believe that Michael Jackson should be held to a different level of responsibility than anyone else?

No one raised their hand to any of these questions.

Chernoff then asked if anyone believed that Murray was at least partially responsible. At first no one raised their hand then one woman said there was no factual basis before them to make that determination at that time. (Obviously, this was the appropriate response at that time.)

Dave Walgren used his 20 minutes to voir dire on jury nullification and the law. He used a hypothetical, described below, to explain the law. As to the nullification issue, Walgren extracted assurances that jurors could convict if they believe the elements were proven beyond a reasonable doubt, even if they had unanswered questions. In other words, he said, if jurors had 100 questions and only three were answered by the evidence, yet the elements of involuntary manslaughter were proven beyond a reasonable doubt, could they still convict? Everyone assured Walgren they could do so.

Walgren also emphasized that it is not fair to consider the victim’s lifestyle, especially if jurors disapprove of it. To consider lifestyle, it must be part of the evidence in the trial; otherwise it plays no role.

At this point, the defense objected to Walgren’s reference to Jackson as a “victim.” Clearly, the defense believes that Jackson is responsible for his own death, and is not a victim at the hands of Murray.

Walgren then posed his hypothetical to illustrate a key legal principle in the case:

Assume a person is driving along in the middle of the day, speeding and not paying attention, and runs a red light. Assume also that a pedestrian crosses the street while listening to music, not paying attention, and not in the crosswalk. The driver hits and kills the pedestrian.

Can the driver be guilty of involuntary manslaughter? Yes.

So long as the driver is a substantial factor in the pedestrian’s death, then he can be guilty of involuntary manslaughter. In other words, there can be multiple causes of death. In order for the driver to be guilty of involuntary manslaughter he must have played a substantial role in the cause of death.

- In Session Correspondent Beth Karas

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