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(a) The Court, upon request of the Clerk or a prospective juror or on its own initiative, shall determine on the basis of information provided on the juror qualification form or interview with the prospective juror or other competent evidence whether the prospective juror is disqualified for jury service.
(b) A prospective juror is disqualified to serve on a jury if the prospective juror:
(1) Is not a citizen of the United States, at least eighteen years old and a resident of Berkeley County, West Virginia;
(2) Is unable to read, speak and understand the English language;
(3) Is incapable, by reason of substantial physical or mental disability, of rendering satisfactory jury service; but a person claiming this disqualification may be required to submit a physician’s certificate as to the disability and the certifying physician is subject to inquiry by the Court at its discretion;
(4) Has served as a municipal juror within the previous two years;
(5) Has lost the right to vote because of a criminal conviction; or
(6) Has been convicted of perjury, false swearing or other infamous offense.
(c) A prospective juror sixty-five years of age or older is not disqualified from serving, but shall be excused from service by the Court upon the juror’s request.
(Ord. 2009-26. Passed 12-17-09.)
(a) The jurors drawn for jury service shall be assigned at random by the Clerk to each jury panel in a manner prescribed by the Court.
(b) If there is an unanticipated shortage of available municipal jurors drawn from the jury box the Court may require the Chief of Police to summon a sufficient number of jurors selected at random by the Clerk from the jury box in a manner prescribed by the Municipal Court.
(c) The names of the qualified jurors drawn from the jury box and the contents of jury qualifications forms completed by those jurors shall be made available to the public.
(Passed 1-24-91)
(a) The Court, upon request of a prospective juror or on its own initiative, shall determine on the basis of information provided on the juror qualification form or interview with the prospective juror or other competent evidence whether the prospective juror should be excused from jury service. The Clerk shall enter this determination in the space provided on the juror qualification form.
(b) A person who is not qualified for jury service under Section 175.06 may be excused from jury service by the Court upon a showing of undue hardship, extreme inconvenience or public necessity, for a period the Court deems necessary, at the conclusion of which the person shall reappear for jury service in accordance with the Court's direction.
(Passed 1-24-91)
Any Court may, upon the appearance of an excess number of qualified jurors, dispense with the attendance of the unneeded jurors on any one day the Court is sitting, as long as such discharge from duty is conducted in a random fashion and in a manner consistent with the spirit of this article.
(Passed 1-24-91)
(a) Within seven days after the moving party discovered or by the exercise of diligence could have been discovered the grounds therefor, and in any event before the jury is sworn to try the case, a party may move to stay the proceedings and in a criminal case to dismiss the warrant or for other appropriate relief on the ground of substantial failure to comply with this article in selecting the jury.
(b) Upon motion filed under subsection (a) hereof containing sworn statement of facts which, if true, would constitute a substantial failure to comply with this article, the moving party is entitled to present in support of the motion the testimony of the City Recorder or the Clerk, any relevant records and papers not public or otherwise available used by the City Recorder or the Clerk, and any other relevant evidence. If the Court determines that in selecting a jury there has been a substantial failure to comply with this article, the Court shall stay the proceedings pending the selection of the jury in conformity with this article, dismiss a warrant or grant other appropriate relief.
(c) In the absence of fraud, the procedures prescribed by this section are the exclusive means by which a person accused of a crime or the City may challenge a jury on the ground that the jury was not selected in conformity with this article.
(Passed 1-24-91)
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