Also known as: empanelled and sworn · empaneled & sworn · empanelled & sworn · jury empaneled · sworn jury
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
The procedural point in a jury trial at which the selected jurors take their oath. This moment triggers attachment of jeopardy under the Double Jeopardy Clause.
Edward Everett faced fraud charges in state court. After the court selected and swore the jury, the prosecutor's key expert fell ill and could not testify. The judge discharged the jury over Edward's objection and scheduled a new trial. Edward moved to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds because the jury had already been empaneled and sworn.
Elise Everly stood trial for assault. Prospective jurors were questioned and seated in the box, but the judge never administered the oath. A subpoenaed witness failed to appear, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial over Elise's objection. The state sought to retry her on the same charges.
Enron Corporation, founded in 1985 and headquartered in Houston, grew into one of the nation’s largest energy companies. Jeffrey Skilling joined in 1990 and rose to become president and chief operating officer before serving as chief executive officer from February 2001 until his resignation in August 2001. Less than four months later, Enron declared bankruptcy, and its stock price, which had reached $90 per share in 2000, fell below $1. A Department of Justice task force investigated the collapse and uncovered evidence of a scheme to overstate the company’s financial performance. On July 7, 2004, a grand jury indicted Skilling, Lay, and Richard Causey, Enron’s former chief accounting officer. These three defendants, the indictment charged, engaged in a scheme to deceive investors about Enron’s true financial performance by manipulating its publicly reported financial results and making false and misleading statements. Count 1 of the indictment charged Skilling with, inter alia, conspiracy to commit “honest-services” wire fraud, 18 U. S. C. §§371, 1343, 1346, by depriving Enron and its shareholders of the intangible right of his honest services. The indictment also charged securities fraud, wire fraud, false statements to auditors, and insider trading. Skilling moved in November 2004 to transfer the trial from Houston due to extensive negative pretrial publicity, submitting hundreds of news reports and expert affidavits on community attitudes. The district court denied the motion after finding the coverage largely objective. The court mailed a 77-question questionnaire to 400 prospective jurors and conducted individual voir dire in January 2006 after Causey pleaded guilty in December 2005. Following a four-month trial, the jury convicted Skilling on 19 of 28 counts, including the honest-services conspiracy count, and the court imposed a sentence of 292 months’ imprisonment. Skilling appealed to the Fifth Circuit, which affirmed the convictions in 554 F. 3d 529. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to review challenges to the honest-services conviction, the venue ruling, and the voir dire process.
View caseJeopardy attaches when the jury is empaneled and sworn. This point marks the start of the defendant's exposure to conviction and limits the state's ability to retry the same offense.
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No. The oath is required along with empanelment. Selection alone leaves the state free to retry the defendant if the trial ends before swearing occurs.
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Only if manifest necessity exists or the defendant consents. Absent those conditions, the Double Jeopardy Clause bars retrial once the jury has been empaneled and sworn.
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…and applicability. See In re Bevill, Bresler & Schulman Asset Management Corp. , 805 F.2d 120, 124 (3d Cir.1986); In re Grand Jury Empaneled Feb. 14, 1978 , 603 F.2d 469, 474 (3d Cir.1979). We note, in addition, that the existence and applicability of a privilege may be undermined by the presumption, rebuttable by the party…