Diane Menashe Quoted in Columbus Dispatch: "In Rare Ruling, Potential Juror in Death-Penalty Case Faces Jail for Lying"

Ice Miller LLP partner Diane Menashe was quoted in the Columbus Dispatch article, "In Rare Ruling, Potential Juror in Death-Penalty Case Faces Jail for Lying."

The article included:

Judge Frye, Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and Diane Menashe, one of Smith’s defense attorneys, all said they had never encountered a case in which a potential juror was found to be so blatantly dishonest, let alone one in which a potential juror revealed his bias about the case to police.

“Not every person is honest in voir dire,” Menashe said. ”(Turner’s) case is just extreme, and that’s why there are consequences for his actions, but it’s not as if everyone else is honest.”

Based on her experience, including numerous death-penalty cases, Menashe said it’s not unusual to sense during voir dire that “some people really want to serve, either because they’re with you or against you.”

In those instances, the prospective juror will answer questions in a way that makes it less likely that they will be excused, sometimes “omitting things or revising history,” she said.

The best way to probe a juror’s possible biases is by asking open-ended rather than yes-or-no questions during voir dire, she said.

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