Free Proposed Voir Dire - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:04-cv-01049-EWN-KLM

Document 214

Filed 09/13/2007

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Civil Action No. 04-cv-01049-EWN-KLM MITCHELL THEOPHILUS GARRAWAY, Plaintiff, v. KENNETH LINCOLN, et al., Defendants. ______________________________________________________________________________ PLAINTIFF'S VOIR DIRE QUESTIONS ______________________________________________________________________________ Plaintiff, Mitchell Theophilus Garraway, by his attorneys, Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C., hereby submits his Voir Dire Questions as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Can you be open-minded in your consider of the evidence? Can you follow the Court's instructions with respect to the law? Can you, without prejudice, judge the credibility of witnesses? Can you set aside your prejudices and be fair? Are you comfortable with the burden of proof known as the "preponderance of the evidence" which is proof of a fact that you believe is more likely true than not true? Are you comfortable with the proposition that a prisoner, incarcerated for life, has constitutional rights, and in particular in this case, the right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment? This is a civil case. Is there anyone who believe they may have difficulty following the Court' instructions as to what the burden of proof is in a civil case? s The court will discuss Plaintiff' burden of proof by the preponderance of the evidence. s Will anyone have trouble following the Court' instructions regarding preponderance of s the evidence?

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Case 1:04-cv-01049-EWN-KLM

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This case involves allegations of Eighth Amendment excessive force against Defendants. Is there anyone who believes their personal beliefs should be followed as opposed to what the Court may instruct you? Is there any person who believes that a prison official has the authority to beat a convicted inmate because the inmate did not follow orders? Is there any person who believes that a prison official has the authority to beat a convicted inmate because the inmate did not comply with prison regulations? If instructed by the Court that the law does not permit a prison official from using excessive force upon a prisoner, would you have trouble enforcing the Eighth Amendment' prohibition against the use of excessive force? s Do you or any close friends or relatives know any police officer, prison official or any other person working in law enforcement or acting under color of law who is accused of striking or hitting or using excessive force against any person? Please explain what happened. Was their lawsuit concerning this incident? What was the outcome of this lawsuit? Were you satisfied with this outcome?

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Do you have any relatives or friends who are prison officials, police officers or who work in law enforcement? Does anyone believe that a police officer' testimony should be judged by standards s different than the testimony of other witnesses? Would anyone believe a prison official or police officer merely because he is a police officer or prison official? Would you agree that you would first have to see the prison official's or police officer' testimony to see if it made sense? s Do you or any close friends or relatives know any person who was ever struck or beaten by any police officer, prison official or any other person working in law enforcement or acting under color of law? Please explain what happened. Was their lawsuit concerning this incident? What was the outcome of this lawsuit?

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Case 1:04-cv-01049-EWN-KLM

Document 214

Filed 09/13/2007

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Were you satisfied with this outcome? 18. 19. Would any of you have trouble believing the testimony of a prison inmate simply because he is incarcerated? If a prison inmate alleges that he was physically assaulted by prison officials, and a prison officials deny that they assaulted the prison inmate, would anyone believe the prison officials simply because they are prison officials? Dated: September 13, 2007. SHUGHART THOMSON & KILROY, P.C. /s/ John D. Phillips John D. Phillips Michael D. Murphy 1050 17th Street, Suite 2300 Denver, CO 80265 (303) 572-9300 [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiff CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that on September 13, 2007, a true and correct copy of the foregoing Plaintiff's Voir Dire Questions was filed and served via ECF as follows: Mark S. Pestal, Esq. Amy L. Padden, Esq. Office of the United States Attorney 1225 Seventeenth Street, #700 Denver, CO 80202 [email protected] [email protected] /s/ Mary Watters

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