U.S. v. ELK

STEPHEN FRIOT, District Judge

Before the court is the government's Objection to Juror Questionnaire, filed on October 5, 2005. The objection is overruled. The subject of suicide is an obvious topic for voir dire in this case. If the voir dire examination of the jury were to be conducted in this case without the aid of a questionnaire, the matters covered in paragraph 21 would certainly be covered in the court's questioning of the panel, and would likely be covered with questions substantially identical to the questions in paragraph 21. Personal experience with suicide is a sensitive and potentially emotional topic as to which both the government and the defendant have an interest in eliciting the thoughts and experiences of potential jurors. If the government is of the opinion that the questions in paragraph 21 should beget additional questions, the court will welcome the filing of proposed questions for the open-court voir dire which will take place on October 12, 2005.