Page 12 - The People of the State of New York v. M. Robert Neulander - Brief for Amicus Curiae in Support of Defendant-Respondent

of

4 The requirement of

complete impartiality is of
Amendment comes into play.

an honest, impartial juror. 4
can be a powerful indicator of
Cir. 1991) (dishonesty on part of

bias").

court held that a new trial was required if
7
evidence fairly and obey the instructions of
whether she did obey the court's instructions.
a juror was "of
honesty continues throughout the trial.
and to weigh the evidence without outside influences.
the court."
itself
..

dire that her brother-in-law was an attorney for the government.

Id. at 151-52.
. evidence of
In this case, by blatantly
In United States v.
even greater importance in a criminal case, where the Sixth
to acknowledge this fact was "quite inconsistent with an expectation that a
Id. at 151.
bias");
that, after voir dire, a juror is similarly required to give truthful answers about
prospective juror will give truthful answers concerning her ability to weigh the
For example, when jurors find it
It follows
The
are questioned, inter alia, about their willingness to obey the court's instructions
Colombo, 869 F.2d 149 (2d Cir. 1989), a juror failed to acknowledge during voir
this was true, because the juror's failure
disregarding the court's instructions, and then lying during trial about having done
Sampson v. United States, 724 F.3d 150, 167 (1st Cir. 2013) ('juror dishonesty ...
so, Juror 12 engaged in conduct completely inconsistent with the conduct expected
difficult to reach a verdict, they are properly instructed ''to try to agree, but not to relinquish their
Thus, jurors are required to give truthful answers during voir dire, when they