Yes, defendants should be allowed to hire jury consultants. Defendants deserve the best representation available to them. The best representation includes anything that might help the defendant to defend themselves. This includes witnesses, expert testimony, physical evidence, records regarding the incident, a good attorney, and a jury consultant. In other words, defendants should have access to the same trial techniques as the plaintiffs.
If a defendant can afford it, they have every right to hire a jury consultant. Innocent defendants should take every possible step they can to help them win their case. Jury consultants can help attorneys dig deeper into the personal lives of the potential jurors allowing attorneys to discover facts about jurors they would not know without the jury consultant. These facts may create biases in the juror that would be detrimental to the defendant. Eliminating such a juror helps the defendant’s chance of winning the case.
Plaintiffs may hire jury consultants if they want to which means that a defendant hiring a jury consultant does not give them an unfair advantage over the plaintiff. If the plaintiff has the money to hire a jury consultant and does not, that is the plaintiff’s own fault. The option is available to either party. Attorneys frequently hire jury consultants so there is nothing unethical or unusual about hiring jury consultants. Attorneys want their client to win. Attorneys want to represent the client to the best of their ability, which includes using every resource available to them including jury consultants. In fact, the attorney has an ethical responsibility to represent their client to the best of their ability.
In conclusion, the answer is yes, defendants should be allowed to spend money on jury consultants. No, hiring a jury consultant does not give defendants an unfair advantage.
References
Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A.,
Keck, R. (2011, November 16). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
