Free Voir Dire Questions - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:04-cv-00163-GMS

Document 267

Filed 09/26/2006

Page 1 of 3

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE ____________________________________ ) DONALD M. DURKIN CONTRACTING, ) INC., ) ) Plaintiff ) ) v. ) ) CITY OF NEWARK, et al., ) ) Defendants ) ) and ) C.A. No. 04-163 GMS ) CITY OF NEWARK, et al., ) ) Third-Party Plaintiff ) ) v. ) ) DONALD M. DURKIN CONTRACTING, ) INC., AND URS CORPORATION, ) ) Third-Party Defendants ) ____________________________________)

VOIR DIRE
! Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to ask you a series of questions that we call voir dire. The purpose of the voir dire examination is: (a) to enable the court to determine whether or not any prospective juror should be excused for cause; to enable counsel for the parties to exercise their individual judgment with respect to peremptory challenges -- that is, challenges for which counsel need not give a reason.

(b)

!

Staff Introduced.

Case 1:04-cv-00163-GMS

Document 267

Filed 09/26/2006

Page 2 of 3

! !

Panel Sworn.

If any of you would answer "yes" to any of these questions, I would ask you to stand up and, upon being recognized by me, to state your number. At the end of the questions, I will ask those who have responded "yes" to any of the questions to come to sidebar (that is, up to the bench next to me) with counsel for the parties to discuss your answers. This case is expected to take 10 days to try. The schedule that I expect to maintain over these next 10 days will be as follows: We will normally begin the day at 9:00 a.m promptly. We will go until about 1:00 p.m. and, after a one hour break for lunch, from about 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. There will be a fifteen minute break around 11:00 a.m. and another fifteen minute break at about 3:00 p.m. The only significant exception to this schedule may occur when the case is submitted to those who are selected to serve as jurors for your deliberation. On that day, the proceedings might last beyond 4:30 p.m. We will post a copy of this schedule for the jury's convenience in the jury deliberation room.

!

1. !

Does the length of this trial or the schedule contemplated by the Court present a special problem to any member of the panel? DESCRIPTION OF THE CASE This is a civil case involving, among others, claims of breach of contract, civil rights violations, and interference with contractual relationships brought by the plaintiff, Donald M. Durkin Contracting, Inc. against the defendants, the City of Newark, De., Mayor of Newark, the members of the Newark City Council and the URS Corporation. These claims arise out of a contract awarded to the plaintiff by the City of Newark to construct a water supply reservoir on a parcel of land of about 60 acres which is located adjacent to Old Paper Mill Rd., Newark Delaware.

2. !

Has any member of the panel heard or read anything about this case? Counsel will be asked by the Court to introduce themselves and their law firms or agencies. Has any member of the panel a member of your immediate family (spouse, child, parent or sibling) or a close friend had any business dealings with any of the attorneys or their law firms. The parties in this case are Donald M. Durkin Contracting, Inc., the City of Newark, DE., the URS Corporation, the Mayor of Newark, Harold F. Godwin, and the following members of the Newark City Council; John H. Farrell, IV, Jerry Clifton, Karl Kalbacher, David J. Athey, Frank J. Osborn, Jr., and Christina Rewa. Has any member of the panel, a member of your immediate family or a close friend had any business or other dealings with, any

3.

4.

Case 1:04-cv-00163-GMS

Document 267

Filed 09/26/2006

Page 3 of 3

connection with, been employed in the past or currently employed by, or been a shareholder of any of the parties in the case or does any member of the panel know or has any member of the panel had dealings of any kind with any of the individual defendants? ! Counsel will be asked to read the names all prospective witnesses.

5.

In addition, you may hear the name Federal Insurance Company. Has any member of the panel, a member of your immediate family or a close friend had any business or other dealings with, any connection with, been employed in the past or currently employed by, or been a shareholder of Federal Insurance Company? Does any member of the panel know any of the prospective witnesses? Have you ever served as a juror in a criminal or a civil case or as a member of a grand jury in either a federal or state court? Have you or has anyone in your immediate family or close friend ever participated in a lawsuit as a party or witness or in any other capacity? If you are selected to sit on this case, will you be able to render a verdict solely on the evidence presented at the trial and in the context of the law as I will give it to you in my instructions, disregarding any other ideas, notions, or beliefs about the law that you may have encountered in reaching your verdict? Is there any member of the panel who has any special disability or problem that would make serving as a member of the jury difficult or impossible? Having heard the questions put to you by the court, does any other reason suggest itself to you as to why you could not sit on this jury and render a fair verdict based on the evidence presented to you and in the context of the court's instructions to you on the law?

6. 7.

8.

9.

10.

11.