At hearing in military leak case, lawyers argue over questions to screen jurors

Source: Associated Press

... At Tuesday’s hearing, military prosecutors and Manning’s attorneys sparred over questions defense lawyers want to ask to screen potential military jury members. Potential jury members are asked a series of written and then oral questions before being put on the jury. Coombs, Manning’s lead defense attorney, said he is using the questions to learn about jurors’ open-mindedness and familiarity with issues in the case, but also what makes the potential jurors “tick.”

To that end, both sides drafted a written set of more than 100 questions ranging from what newspapers potential jurors read to how much television they watch and where they volunteer. But the defense also wanted to ask more specific questions relevant to the case.

For example, on Monday, Coombs noted that his client is gay. As a result, a total of nine questions about homosexuality are being included in the written jury questionnaire, a prosecutor said. That includes a question about whether potential jurors agree with the repeal last year of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibited gays from serving openly in the military. But the judge in the case, Col. Denise Lind, refused to allow a question about whether potential jurors oppose gay marriage. She said potential jurors’ answers to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” question get at essentially the same information about bias.

The defense will also get to ask potential jurors whether they’ve ever read a book about the release of classified information, whether they’ve ever signed a petition or marched in a protest and whether they’re familiar with gender identity disorder ...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/army-private-accused-of-classified-leak-asks-again-to-have-2-of-22-charges-dropped/2012/07/16/gJQApE6xpW_story.html