Jury Selection – Is Boulder Different? How To Pick a Jury Without a Jury Consultant, No Bull*November 24, 2021

Jurors in Boulder have a way too. Some is cultural, some is socio-economic and education based. Of the first 12 jurors placed in the jury box in Boulder, you will have 3 PhD educated scientists, 6 engineers of some type, and maybe 3 people without a college degree. It is uncommon in most jurisdictions to have a majority jury with a college degree. Boulder also has a lot of college students under 25 years of age. Many of these jurors have money and make money. I rarely see a black or brown face on a jury panel in Boulder.

Does your lawyer regularly pick Boulder juries? We do, and we win with them too.

Many believe that Boulder jurors are biased against gun owners, and the use of guns for self-defense and self-defense in general. I agree that many in Boulder county would support significant gun restrictions and some may even have negative view of guns in general. But I have tried and won gun self-defense cases and general self-defense cases here. Most of the county is not in the City of Boulder, with a significant portion in the western mountains, and eastern farming communities and Longmont.

Recently, a potential client called and asked, can you win a sex assault in Boulder? I said yes, and I have often and recently. The potential client said a very famous Colorado lawyer forced him to take a deal because the lawyer did not think anyone could win a Boulder Sexual Assault due to the jury pool. I heard the facts and knew is it was winnable.

Many lawyers rely on demographic speculation, guesses based on how a person appears to them, to choose a juror. This may work in politics where you only need 50.1%, meaning you can be wrong 49.9% of the time. It does not work in jury selection. If anyone has made assumptions about you and you had to deal with that assumption over time, you know how it feels. I like jurors that are honest with me, even if I do not like the answer. I have friends across the spectrum. We find commonality and that keeps us together. I find if you treat a juror like an individual, listen to them, and be fair honest and decent, they will give my client a great trial and verdict.

In learning about this community, I have come to know how to go around the state and meet jurors where they are emotionally and philosophically. They may make assumptions about me (of course), but usually by the end of jury selection, we both know our initial impressions are only a slice of truth of the two of us. If I can accept them, they will accept me. If they accept me, they will accept you and our case.