The prosecution’s rejection of jury-consultant advice keyed Simpson’s acquittal

Evidence

With this information, Dimitrius and Vinson each constructed profiles of the ideal defense juror. Their profiles largely coincided: a blue-collar, middle-aged, African American woman who had some personal or familial experience with law enforcement. Simpson’s attorneys heeded Dimitrius’s advice and sought to select jurors who fit this profile. But prosecutor Marcia Clark rejected Vinson’s advice, confident that the spousal-abuse issue in the case and her experience in establishing rapport with African American women jurors would be decisive. The prosecution thus failed to use its full allotment of 20 peremptory challenges, and the jury that finally acquitted Simpson included eight African American women, one African American man, two white women, and one Hispanic man. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1354

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly illustrates the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’-adjacent theme? No — better: it is a concrete case of how procedure (jury selection) determines outcomes, useful background for the course’s interest in how process shapes results.
• XREF: connects to: Voir dire questioning procedures vary sharply across state jurisdictions — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1337; Rejecting consultant advice on jury selection may cost the outcome. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 837; Both Simpson trial sides pursued professional jury consultants. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 835