Rule 434.Jury Selection

Rule 434 handles the procedural side of assembling a criminal jury. Jurors are passed on and accepted in panels of four, with the state going first unless the court directs otherwise, and alternates are handled as a separate group. On request, the parties get a list of prospective jurors and their addresses if known, and either side may challenge jurors for cause, with the court weighing a prospective juror's physical impairment against that juror's ability to perceive and evaluate the evidence.

Peremptory challenges vary by case. A defendant tried alone gets seven if the offense could carry a penitentiary sentence, five otherwise. When multiple defendants are tried together, each gets fewer, five or three, respectively, and if several charges against a defendant have been consolidated, the challenges apply only to the single charge carrying the greatest maximum penalty. The state gets as many peremptory challenges as all the defendants combined.

After the regular jury is sworn, the court may direct that alternate jurors be selected, giving each side one additional peremptory challenge per alternate. If a juror dies or is discharged before the case is finally submitted, an alternate steps in, in the order the alternates were chosen.