Free Proposed Voir Dire - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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Daniel P. Struck, Bar #012377 Timothy J. Bojanowski, Bar #022126 JONES, SKELTON & HOCHULI, P.L.C. 2901 North Central Avenue, Suite 800 Phoenix, Arizona 85012 Telephone: (602) 263-1700 Fax: (602) 200-7811 [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for Defendant Cora Miles UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF ARIZONA Carlos Arthur Powell, Plaintiff, v. Cora Miles and Earl Scalet, Defendants. NO. CV-03-1819-PHX-JAT PROPOSED JOINT VOIR DIRE QUESTIONS

The parties stipulate and hereby respectfully request this Court pose the following questions to the jury panel, in addition to the standard questions normally asked by the Court. Additionally, Defendants request that they or the Court be permitted to ask any follow-up questions to the proposed questions set forth below, as well as any necessary follow-up questions propounded by Plaintiff. PROPOSED VOIR DIRE QUESTIONS 1. Have you, any member of your family, or any close friends been

employed as a police officer, detention officer, or corrections officer? If so, when, what department, what were your/his/her duties? 2. Have you, any member of your family, or any close friends been

arrested? If so, please describe when and where the arrest occurred. Please describe the

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reason for the arrest. Is there anything which occurred during the initial arrest any subsequent detention in jail or prison which causes you particularly hard feelings against the law enforcement and/or correctional/detention officers involved? Is there anything which occurred in that event which will cause you some difficulty in fairly evaluating the testimony in this case as it relates to the correctional officers involved? 3. Have you, any member of your family, or any close friends been

incarcerated in a city jail, county jail, state prison, federal prison, privately owned correctional facility or any other correctional institution? If so, please describe when and where. Is there anything which occurred during the incarceration which causes you particularly hard feelings against any detention officer, corrections officer, or any other employee of the institution? Is there anything which occurred during the incarceration which will cause you some difficulty in fairly evaluating the testimony in this case as it relates to the correctional officers involved? 4. Have any of you ever been incarcerated in, or ever visited anyone

incarcerated in, Corrections Corporation of America's Central Arizona Detention Center or Florence Correctional Center in Florence, Arizona or Corrections Corporation of America's Eloy Detention Center in Eloy, Arizona? Under what circumstances were you at the facility? Do you have any particularly positive or negative feelings regarding your experiences while there? 5. Do any of you have any particular opinions regarding the

privatization of prisons in this country? 6. Do any of you feel that correctional officers in private prisons should

be held to a higher standard with regards to performance of their duties as compared with correctional officers employed in jails/prisons operated by city, county, state or federal officials?

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7.

Do any of you feel that correctional officers in private prisons have a

tendency to treat inmates differently, either positively or negatively, than correctional officers in jails/prisons operated by city, county, state or federal officials? 8. Have you, any member of your family, or any close friends filed a

written complaint, made an oral complaint or filed a lawsuit against any police officer, detention officer, or corrections officer? If so, please describe the events leading up to the filing of the complaint. What occurred in response to your complaint? 9. Have you or any member of your family been a witness in a criminal

action? If so, please describe briefly the nature of the action. Was there anything which occurred in that event which would cause you particularly hard feelings about the criminal justice system, the corrections system, or any employees of those systems? 10. Have you or any members of your family ever sued or been sued in a

civil lawsuit where money damages were requested? If so, please describe the lawsuit and tell us who was suing or being sued, how the case was resolved, and your attitudes and feelings about your experience in the lawsuit. Is there anything about that experience which might affect your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this case? 11. Have you, any member of your family, or any close friends ever been

employed by or connected with the legal profession as an attorney, judge, legal secretary, paralegal, court reporter, or court employee? If so, please describe the employment or connection, when the employment or connection occurred, and whether the employment or connection still exists. 12. Do to circumstances such as work schedules, some defendants may

not be present for the entire trial. Would his/her absence lead you to believe that the particular defendant is uninterested in the outcome of this lawsuit or would his/her absence lead you to believe that the particular defendant is liable?

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13.

Do any of you belong to any civic, social or professional clubs or

organizations? If so, please identify. 14. Do any of you participate in any group that has the protection or

promotion of civil liberties as its goal? If so, please identify the group. 15. identify the group. 16. 17. Have any of you ever been a member of the ACLU? Do any of you participate in any group that has the protection or Have any of you ever been a member of a labor union? If so, please

promotion of the rights of immigrants as its goal? If so, please identify the group. 18. Have any of you ever been detained by or held in INS custody for

any period of time? If so, when, where and under what circumstances? 19. immigration policy? 20. Do any of you have any particular opinions regarding the treatment Do any of you have any particular opinions about the U.S.

of persons suspected of illegally being in this country by government officials? 21. Do any of you have any particular objections to the fact that the INS

detains persons suspected of illegally being in this country while their immigration cases are pending and prior to possible deportation? 22. Do you believe that immigrants or persons in this country illegally

are generally treated unfairly by law enforcement and/or correctional officers? Please describe. 23. Were you ever employed by, or serve voluntarily on, or were you

ever appointed to any commission, task force, study groups, or agencies concerning human relations, civil rights, or minority, women or senior citizen issues? If so, what group did you serve on and when?

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24.

Do you understand that as a juror in this case, you will be evaluating

whether the Plaintiff was subject to constitutional violations by prison employees including retaliation which resulted in Plaintiff being placed in segregation? Does that cause any of you any difficulty? Do you think that you will have difficulty deciding that issue? 25. Have any of you, your close friends or relatives ever been the victim

of unfair treatment by a law enforcement officer or correctional/detention officer? If so, please describe when and the nature of your complaint. 26. Have any of you, your close friends or relatives ever been, or

perceived that you have been retaliated against for submitting a grievance or taking legal action? If so, please describe the events which you understand may have lead up to the retaliation, the nature of the retaliation, and the resolution to the retaliatory incident. 27. Is there anything with reference to your ability to serve as a fair and

impartial juror of which you think the court should be aware? If so, please describe. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND CONTENT: By: s/ Carlos Arthur Powell Carlos Arthur Powell c/o Amicus Curiae Association Foundation ATTN: Ken Peterson 9335 Bowman Avenue South Gate, California 90280 Pro se Plaintiff By: s/ Timothy J. Bojanowski Daniel P. Struck Timothy J. Bojanowski Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C. 2901 North Central Avenue, Suite 800 Phoenix, Arizona 85012 Attorney for Defendant Cora Miles By: s/ John R. Mayfield John R. Mayfield U.S. Attorney's Office 2 Renaissance Square 40 North Central Avenue, Suite 1200 Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4408 Attorney for Defendant Earl Scalet

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on December 4, 2006, I electronically transmitted the attached document to the Clerk's Office using the CM/ECF System for filing and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following CM/ECF registrants: John R. Mayfield U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE 2 Renaissance Square 40 North Central Avenue, Suite 1200 Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4408 Attorney for Defendant Earl Scalet ________________________________________________________________ I hereby certify that on December 4, 2006, I served the attached document by: mail on the following, who are not registered participants of the CM/ECF System: Carlos Arthur Powell C/O AMICUS CURIAE ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION ATTN: Ken Peterson 9335 Bowman Avenue South Gate, California 90280 Pro se Plaintiff

s/Dianne Clark

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