The Michigan Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a Detroit man convicted of kidnap and sexual assault after judges ruled that the trial court judge abused his discretion by not allowing lawyers before the start of the trial to question and exclude certain jurors.
In a 4-3 opinion released Friday, Justice Richard Bernstein wrote that in not allowing peremptory challenges ― a process in which the prosecutor and defense in a trial are allowed to exclude potential jurors without providing a reason, a practice designed to allow both parties to minimize potential bias ― trial court Judge Dalton A. Roberson limited the defense team of defendant Robert Yarbrough Jr. and its ability to "strategically consider the final composition of the jury."
"The questioning of each prospective juror provides litigants with the opportunity to observe and gauge the reactions of all the other prospective jurors for any signs of bias in one direction or another," Bernstein said in the majority opinion. "As new prospective jurors are seated, new questions may arise that lead to additional information about previously seated individuals. The system imposed here cut short defendant's ability to engage in this ongoing strategic monitoring ...."
