"Mr. Merriweather, do you know the defendant in this case, Mr. Jacobs,
or his attorney, Mr. Jenkins, or his assistant, Mr.--er--the young
gentleman on his left?" is the usual form, delivered with the utmost
urbanity. It means very little, but perhaps helps the lawyer to
identify an antagonistic juryman and to obtain their answers, which
are almost uniformly in the negative. It is obviously desirable that
the juryman, as a judge, should not be a friend of the opposite side.
From the manner of the man in the box, as he answers, may possibly be
inferred his general disposition, and all further questions have this
purpose in view. So the attorney for the plaintiff proceeds throughout
the twelve before him, and he may say at any time, "Your Honor, I
excuse juror number so and so."
Usually he examines the whole twelve before "excusing" any of them,
and when doing so many lawyers turn from the box to the judge as they
say, "I will excuse numbers four, five, and eleven." Frequently those
remaining do not realize why their brethren have been dismissed. A
slight bewilderment may pass across the faces of all, as a man here
and there, under the beckoning finger of the clerk, rises to give up
his seat.
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