JURY POOL A NUMBERS GAME
Trials can be won and lost in jury selection, and the stakes are at their highest in marquee legal showdowns where far-flung publicity can poison an otherwise fair proceeding.
That’s why hundreds of Boston residents will be examined by a judge and lawyers in Suffolk County Superior Court this week — and from that massive jury pool will come the 12 jurors, as well as several alternates, tasked with laying judgment on disgraced former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.
“Many judges, not surprisingly, can agonize over this. There are huge cases and this is a somewhat routine piece of making sure the trial goes well,” said Pamela Wood, the Bay State’s jury commissioner. “You have to figure out how many jurors it’s going to take, and a judge needs to figure out what to base that on.”
More than 180 people gathered in the jury pool room yesterday and were introduced to the fallen footballer himself in the courtroom and briefed on the allegations surrounding the 2012 double murder of which he stands accused. During the week, 600 are expected to filter through the room, some of whom will eventually go through questioning from Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke, Hernandez’s defense attorneys, and prosecutors.
Getting that many people into court in the first place is no easy task. The jury summonses need to go out 12 weeks before selection is to take place, and in high-publicity trials, a judge needs to do some tough math: How many citizens will he need to find a fair panel?
“He asked, ‘How many do you think I’m going to need to get this jury?’ ” said Deputy Jury Commissioner John W. Cavanaugh, recalling his conversation with Locke from months ago.
“We know about all the big empanelments across the state, and based on those, my guess was fewer than 500,” Cavanaugh said.
Precedent carries a lot of weight when it comes to picking the size of a jury pool. That’s what made it tough for Judge E. Susan Garsh in 2015 when she had to pick a jury in Bristol County for Hernandez’s first murder trial.
“The national press that the first Hernandez case was getting caused Judge Garsh to have to consider how many potential jurors heard about it and actually made an opinion,” Wood said. “There was no way to judge that, because it was unprecedented.”
The final juror was sworn in on that case after 395 had been considered. That is the most the jury commissioner’s office has seen since it started recording the data in 2006.
Locke will now go through the same process and one by one, he will carve away at the huge pool. At the other end will be 16 jurors — 12 who will pass judgment and four alternates — who will sit for an estimated six weeks and decide Hernandez’s fate.