Voir Dire Definition:

In a jury trial, a voir dire is conducted on each prospective juror for the purposes of challenges for cause or peremptory challenges:

"After the judge briefly explains the general nature of the case to be tried and introduces the lawyers and parties, the panel of prospective jurors is questioned in a process called voir dire -- French for to speak the truth - to determine if any juror has a personal interest in the case or a prejudice or bias that may wrongly influence his or her role as a juror.

"The attorneys may ask the court to excuse some jurors from the trial. These requests for excuses are called challenges. There are an unlimited number of challenges for cause, where a specific legal reason is given, and a limited number of peremptory challenges, where no reason is given. The system of challenges is designed to allow lawyers to do their best to assure that their clients will have a fair trial."¹

During trial, a voir dire may, for example, be convened for an attorney to object to a prospective witness. The court would suspend the trial, immediately preside over a mini-hearing on the standing of the proposed witness, and then resume the trial with or without the witness, or with any restrictions placed on the testimony by the judge as a result of the voir dire ruling.

When a voir dire occurs during the trial, the jury would be excused during the voir dire.

REFERENCES:

• West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, Jury Duty: A Handbook for Trial Jurors, undated but retrieved from the Internet on October 10, 2011 from http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/juryinfo/juryhdbk.htm [NOTE 1].