The process of selecting a trial jury, known as voir dire, is

Question

The process of selecting a trial jury, known as voir dire, is

	a.     handled exclusively and totally by the trial judge.
	b.     a process of elimination, essentially in that after challenges have removed potential juries from the jury panel the first 12 remaining are selected to serve on the jury.
	c.     used only in cases involving federal questions.
	d.     used only when picking juries for appellate cases.
	e.     handled by judges from the appellate court branch of the state's judicial system.

Answer 1

Voir dire is the selection of jury members before the trial begins. A pool of random citizens is summoned for jury duty, and the attorneys for each side ask questions that they think are relevant to determine whether that juror will favor their side. Each side has a pre-determined number of "strikes", meaning that they can dismiss jurors for any reason. Jurors can also asked to be dismissed because jury service would be an undue hardship. Once these jurors have been excused, the first 12 remaining on the list will be the jury. This only occurs at the trial level because appellate (appeals) courts only decide whether the trial was conducted properly -- they do not hear cases.