"I think we will excuse Mr. Ananias," politely remarks the
prosecutor; then in an undertone he turns to his chief and
mutters: "The old rascal! He would have knifed us if we'd
given him the chance!" And all this time the disgruntled Mr.
Ananias is wondering why, if he didn't "know the defendant or
his family," he was not accepted as a juror.
Of course, every district attorney has, or should have,
information as to each talesman's actual capabilities as a
juror and something of a record as to how he has acted under
fire. If he is a member of the "special" panel, it is easy to
find out whether he has ever acquitted or convicted in any
cause celebre, and if he has acquitted any plainly guilty
defendant in the past it is not likely that his services will
be required. If, however, he has convicted in such a case the
district attorney may try to lure the other side into
accepting him by making it appear that he himself is doubtful
as to the juror's desirability. Sometimes persons accused of
crime themselves, and actually under indictment, find their
way onto the panels, and more than one ex-convict has appeared
there in some inexplicable fashion.
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