The process is called voir dire, which is French for “speak the truth,” which doesn’t always happen in courts of law. That’s why lawyers get to question the venire, the panel of prospective jurors, and root around for fissures of trouble. Much of the ground had been covered in a three-page juror questionnaire approved by the judge. Now Radavich and I had the chance to talk to them directly. There were a couple of jurors I knew I had to get rid of—a retired television technician who looked and sounded like he’d convict Mother Teresa for stealing sheets, and a woman from Whittier who seemed entirely too anxious to be seated, and kept looking at Eric the way a coyote eyes an unattended chihuahua. That’s not a good look to be getting so early in the game. Radavich, of course, started tossing off jurors, too. And the first juror he excused was one I really wanted. Part of trial work is trusting your instincts, and a thought jumped out at me.
