What are pre-trial juror investigations?
Sometimes when you are called into a jury pool, you will get with a summons not just your form for reimbursement of expenses, but you may get a questionnaire that can go on for several pages with all kind of questions about your educational level, how long you've been married, if you've ever been married, whether or not you've ever been in the armed forces, if you've ever been convicted for a variety of things. This is a pre-trial investigation of jurors and these are often handed over to jury experts who try to determine the profile of everybody in the jury pool to help them select jurors they think would be better for one side of the case or the other side of the case, depending upon who the juror consultant is. When you're called for jury duty and you get a questionnaire that you have to fill out, that is supposed to be information that is confidential. It should not go to the press or the public. It can go to the attorneys involved in the case and it can go to the judge. The Clerk of Courts may see that, but that information should not be made public. It may be used to investigate you, if there's concern that it's a special kind of case, but never in any instance should even your name be made public. And sometimes jurors are given numbers; their name is never disclosed. Usually it's not the kind of case where you're worried about them knowing your name. But juror privacy, by and large, is always protected, even though you may be investigated, none of that information is going to be made public.
