Does this case challenge who we consider “peers” in a jury?
Ahmaud Arbery: judge seats nearly all-white jury in Georgia murder trial
In a trial of three white men who allegedly killed a black man, the defense struck almost all black jurors.
Did the defense do this on the supposition that a white jury would be less likely to convict? That’s almost a certainty, IMO.
But don’t attorneys do this all the time? It’s my understanding that prosecution and defense attorneys are always trying to pick the right demographic mix in the jury. Not too many old people. Not too many unemployed people. Not the dude with the long hair and the earring.
If the defense can’t nudge the jury composition based on race, what about all those other things? Are we going to have to have some complicated diversity calculation for each jury?
Honestly, that might be a good idea — if it was done with a very broad set of demographic characteristics, and didn’t simply focus on race and sex.