Jury pool wore clear shields during selection in Fort Worth so attorneys could see faces
In selecting jurors for a trial, a judge and attorneys discuss with a pool of prospects burdens and other legal concepts and try to determine whether life experiences will color their capacity to consider only evidence.
The attorneys ask questions of potential jurors, note their verbal responses and use that information as they make selections and seek exclusions.
In a criminal trial in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth on Tuesday, an attorney for a man accused in a child sex trafficking conspiracy argued that spoken answers are but one element of juror assessment. William Biggs also wanted to be able to see the full faces of the people who would consider the case.
Biggs asked U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to require potential jurors wear transparent face shields provided by the court and intended as a novel coronavirus safety measure, rather than obscuring masks, during the selection period, known as voir dire. Biggs’ argument was that a clear covering would allow facial expressions to be visible and inform selection decisions.
Without a view of a juror’s mouth, the defendant could not be certain that he or she was impartial. A grimace or smile, for example, may reveal thoughts not made clear in a verbal response.
A masked panel “will not be adequate, because it will inhibit Counsel from being able to [evaluate] individual panel members’ demeanor, such as facial expressions,” Biggs wrote. “Facial expressions play a critical role in Counsel’s ability to evaluate a juror’s impartiality.”
The jury panel wore face shields during jury selection. The selected jurors were allowed to choose between a face shield or a mask during trial.
Although the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not formally join in the defense’s request for shields, it told O’Connor it thought the request was reasonable, a spokeswoman for the office said.
Whether Biggs actually made strike or inclusion calls based on something he saw on a jury candidate’s face is not clear. He did not immediately return a telephone message left Thursday at his office.
The defendant, William Smith, 31, was convicted of both sex trafficking crimes on which he had been indicted.
Following a day-long trial, the jury found Smith guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking of a minor.
Smith, who lives in Denton, met and befriended the 17-year-old victim in the summer of 2019, according to evidence described in a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. Smith introduced her to Charity Cantu, his longtime girlfriend, who worked for him as a prostitute. Smith told Cantu that she was to groom and train the victim to make money for him providing commercial sex services.
From August to October 2019, the victim accompanied Cantu to hotels in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas and engaged in prostitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. All of the money from the prostitution was given to Smith.
On Oct. 12, Homeland Security Investigations agents and Texas Attorney General’s Office investigators conducted a sting operation at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in the 6800 block of West Freeway in Fort Worth. Agents arranged a date for prosecution there by contacting the victim through escortalligator.com.
Smith faces up to life in prison. O’Connor is to sentence him on Jan. 8.
Cantu, 25, pleaded guilty in March to a racketeering charge. She admitted that although she knew the victim was a minor, she groomed the victim for commercial sex and posted ads for her sexual services online.
Cantu testified at Smith’s trial and is to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman on Sept. 24.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 6:34 PM.
