Juror numbers, names and notes stay on this device.
How the chart works
Enter the panel in the order the court calls it: a range like 1-40, or one number a line with a note after it. Tap a juror to strike, excuse or add a note.
In the jury box method, tap Seat the box when the first jurors sit down. Anyone excused before that never takes a seat. After that, each empty seat goes to the next person in line. In the struck method, the chart keeps a list as long as the jurors, alternates and every strike together. The lowest unstruck numbers are the jurors and the next ones the alternates. If jury strikes cannot remove alternates in your court, the list is split into a jury section and an alternate section, as in the S.D.N.Y. procedure below. When both sides strike the same person, tap Also struck by and both counts go down.
Questions
What is the difference between the jury box method and the struck method?
In the jury box method, the first jurors take seats in the box, and each one excused or struck is replaced by the next person in line. In the struck method, the court qualifies a full list first, the sides strike from it, and the lowest numbers left are seated. Your court's rules and the judge decide which one you use.
How many peremptory strikes does each side get?
It depends on the court. In federal criminal cases, Rule 24(b) gives each side 20 when the death penalty is sought, 6 to the government and 10 to the defense in other felonies, and 3 each in misdemeanors. Federal civil parties get 3 each under 28 U.S.C. § 1870. States set their own numbers, and judges can allow more.
How far down the panel will jury selection go?
If every strike is used, the jury and alternates reach the person whose place equals the jurors, plus alternates, plus every peremptory strike of both sides (alternate strikes included), counting only people not excused for hardship or cause. With 12 jurors, 2 alternates, 6 strikes a side and 1 each for alternates, that is the 28th such person (12 + 2 + 6 + 6 + 1 + 1). Two hardship excusals among them push it to the 30th person on the panel.
Are strikes for alternates separate?
In federal criminal trials, Rule 24(c)(4) adds 1 strike a side for 1 or 2 alternates, 2 for 3 or 4, and 3 for 5 or 6, usable only on alternates. Until the 2002 restyling the rule also said the other strikes may not be used to remove an alternate, and the committee note calls that restyling stylistic only, so the federal presets keep jury strikes off alternates, as Judge Abrams' S.D.N.Y. procedure does. Other courts differ, so set it under Case and rules. In the struck method with the setting on, the finished lists decide which count each strike uses: a strike on someone who would otherwise be a juror is a jury strike.
What happens if the panel runs out?
The chart shows empty seats and how many more people a full set of strikes would need. When the court calls more jurors, add them at the end of the panel and the chart carries on from there.
Can I use it in a courtroom with no signal?
Yes. Once the page has opened, it works offline, and every mark is saved on the device as you make it, so a reload or a closed tab loses nothing. Some courts bar phones and laptops during voir dire, so print the chart before you go in.
I marked the wrong juror. How do I fix it?
Tap Undo on the message that appears, or open the juror and tap Undo next to the mark. In the jury box method the seats are replayed in the order the marks were made, so people who filled seats after that mark can move, and a later strike on someone who would no longer have been in the box is shown as such.
Sources: Fed. R. Crim. P. 24 · Former Rule 24(c) (U.S. Code, 2001) · Fed. R. Crim. P. 23 · 28 U.S.C. § 1870 · Fed. R. Civ. P. 48 · S.D.N.Y., Judge Abrams, struck panel method. This chart keeps count; it is not legal advice. Numbers differ by state and by judge, so check the statute and the judge's order.