UM Grace Case

All 12 members of the jury were selected first thing this morning in Judge Molloy’s court. The day started with the collection of the exercise of peremptory challenges from the government and the defense. Molloy informed both sides that he would use the Arizona Strike method and he asked for patience while the peremptory [...]

After kicking things off early this morning in the case of U.S. v. WR Grace, Judge Donald Molloy continued the voir dire process well into the early evening – questioning the tired and yawning pool of potential jurors about a number of specific topics.
Following a nearly one-hour recess to meet with counsel, Molloy returned to [...]

Judge Molloy called court back to session at 3:00 p.m. following a recess in chambers with one attorney from each party. Questions were then presented to specific members of the jury pool based on concerns voiced by the attorneys. After only a few questions, Molloy called another recess and again called counsel into his [...]

Judge Molloy’s questions continued in the early afternoon in much the same fashion as in the morning. He made sure to focus on each potential juror’s exposure to Grace trial-related media (especially in the past few days), as well as other questions raised by the juror questionnaires. As he questioned them, he worked [...]

Judge Donald Molloy continued questioning potential jurors this afternoon. Eight jurors were questioned from 1:30 to 3:00.  Many voiced their concerns about the length of the trial and how it would impede on personal matters. One juror got so personal he said, “I don’t really know my situation anymore,” about whether he could arrange to [...]

Judge Molloy set the legal stage during voir dire by focusing his attention on the role of the jury in a criminal trial, specific legal definitions, and facts pertinent to the case.
In his attempt to select an objective jury, Judge Molloy questioned each potential juror about his or her ability to be fair and [...]

The court took a short break until about 10:35 a.m., when voir dire resumed. A hodgepodge of varied potential jurors appeared before Judge Molloy. Several had backgrounds in science. One man said he works in lending with customers in Libby, Mont., and said it would be difficult for him to rule against the government’s [...]

Suits filled the lobby this morning, waiting anxiously to get into the courtroom.  Some seemed nervous.  Some paced.  A few seemed relaxed.  One even smiled.  All seemed alert, though the yawning began within the first hour of voir dire examination.  The jurors had entered the courtroom early, where they were instructed on the possible [...]

The laptop ran out of battery before the voir dire process even began, and without an electrical plug, I moved to the courthouse’s designated media room where supposedly a live-video stream from the courtroom would be fed.
But the cameras are trained on an empty witness stand and an empty podium, and aside from a potential juror’s head [...]

Good morning. Alex Tenenbaum is in the federal courthouse in Missoula for UM’s Grace Case Project as the long awaited trial of U.S. v WR Grace gets underway. The 80 potential jurors started the day in the courtroom with court officials only, watching, we are told, a standard-procedure instructional video on the jury selection [...]