Free Proposed Voir Dire - District Court of California - California

Case 3:07-cr-03190-JAH

Document 20

Filed 03/29/2008

Page 1 of 3

1 CANDIS MITCHELL 2 FEDERAL DEFENDERS OF SAN DIEGO, INC. 3 San Diego, California 92101-5008 4 [email protected] 5 6 Attorneys for Mr. Jose Raymundo Contreras-Hernandez 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 v. 16

California Bar No. 242797 225 Broadway, Suite 900

(619) 234-8467 (tel); (619) 687-2666 (fax)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (HONORABLE JOHN A. HOUSTON) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) CASE NO.: 07CR3190-JAH DATE: May 13, 2008 TIME: 9:00 a.m. DEFENDANT'S PROPOSED JURY VOIR DIRE

JOSE RAYMUNDO CONTRERAS17 HERNANDEZ, 18 19 20 TO: 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Defendant.

KAREN P. HEWITT, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, PETER MAZZA, ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY: Jose Raymundo Contreras-Hernandez, by and through counsel, Candis Mitchell and the Federal

Defenders of San Diego, Inc., requests the Court voir dire the jury as set forth herein.

Respectfully submitted, s/ Candis Mitchell CANDIS MITCHELL Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. Attorneys for Mr. Contreras-Hernandez [email protected]

Dated: March 29, 2008

Case 3:07-cr-03190-JAH

Document 20

Filed 03/29/2008

Page 2 of 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1.

Does anyone have personal experience with law enforcement officers? Do you believe that law enforcement officers are more likely to tell the truth?

2.

How important do you consider proper record keeping? Due to your experience in record-keeping you do rely more on computerized indexing and databases or paper files? Would anyone where think it is impossible that the INS might make a mistake and remove someone who should have the right to be here?

3.

Does anyone have any special training, education, or knowledge about the immigration system and how it works in the United States? What? How? Has anyone ever assisted someone going through an immigration proceeding?

4.

Has anyone had any experience with a federal agency such as the INS, the DEA or the border patrol, etc.? Has anyone or their family or friends had any experiences with INS? Were those experience positive? Will these experiences affect your ability to be fair and impartial?

5.

You can see that Mr. Contreras-Hernandez is being assisted by an interpreter. How do you feel about people who do not speak English?

6.

Does anyone have such strong feelings against illegal immigration that they might not be able to weigh the evidence in this case to determine whether the government has proven its accusations?

7.

The burden of proof is on the Government in this case. That means that Mr. Contreras-Hernandez has no duty to prove anything in this case. Is there anybody who is uncomfortable with that idea or thinks that it is not fair to the Government? Does anyone think that Mr. Contreras-Hernandez should have to prove anything? Do you accept that when a person is accused of a crime, they are not required to explain their side of the case since the burden of proof rests with the prosecution? What does the presumption of innocence mean to you?

8.

Now there may be reasons why a person might not testify, if Mr. Contreras-Hernandez does not testify ­ as is his constitutional right ­ would you hold this against him? Would you find it difficult to vote not guilty if he did not testify?

9.

Mr. Contreras-Hernandez is charged with a felony offense, punishable by time in prison. You are not here to decide if Mr. Contreras-Hernandez stays in the country. You're here to decide if he committed a crime. How do you feel about someone being charged with a felony for an immigration violation? 2 07CR3190-JAH

Case 3:07-cr-03190-JAH

Document 20

Filed 03/29/2008

Page 3 of 3

1 10. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Are you or any of your family members of or supporters of organizations such as the Minute Men?

3

07CR3190-JAH