Duncan wants to do his own voir dire
Just as jury selection was about to begin in the Joseph Duncan case this morning, Duncan delivered a hand-written note to the judge asking to do the defense questioning of jurors himself, rather than have his standby attorneys handle that. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge denied the request, saying it was a last-minute request he’d not had any chance to review, and adding, “I think your standby counsel is very capable.”
The judge told the admitted killer, who’s in court in a garish gold jail-issue sweatshirt with a stretched-out neck over faded jail scrubs, that he would be given an opportunity to ask any questions of prospective jurors he wanted, in addition to his lawyers’ questions. “If this just doesn’t work out after a few jurors, we may have to reconsider,” the judge said.
Two prospective jurors then went through questioning. The two, both women, were approved after extensive questioning from both sides – though one had suffered abuse by her stepfather as a child, and the stepfather had gone to prison for 12 years. Through extensive questioning, she made it clear that she would consider in the evidence in the case and follow the court’s instructions, and hadn’t made up her mind in advance.
Then, Lodge asked Duncan to think about what he’d seen with the first two jurors, and how they were questioned by his standby lawyers. “Is it still your request to try to do this voir dire on your own?” he asked. “Yes,” Duncan responded. But when the judge asked Duncan if he understood the disadvantages of that, Duncan said, “Not … completely.” He said, “If I chose to, I probably could at least make an idiot of myself trying to … but obviously, … I’m not a lawyer. … If I do voir dire, I probably will not ask questions, simply because it’s me.”
Duncan said it’d be like if he were asked to paint a painting – he’d leave the brush on the palette, he said, because has no skill as a painter.
The judge said if the defense doesn’t ask questions, it won’t be able to draw out issues, as the lawyers did with the first two jurors, to determine whether the juror can be fair and impartial. “This is not one of those types of cases where you just take chances,” Lodge said. “We’re talking about a death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of release.” He then called a recess, and told Duncan he’ll ask him again after the recess if he still wants to conduct juror questioning himself. “If that’s your position, we’re going to proceed pro se,” the judge said.
