Filling juries in small N.W.T. communities a growing problem

The problems of finding jurors for trials in small communities was highlighted in arecent N.W.T. court decision.

Since January 2012 the inability to find enough jurors has been the reason for 11 mistrials in the N.W.T.

N.W.T.'s Supreme Court says it tries to hold trials in the community a crime takes place in orderto make it easier for the accused and witnesses to attend, but in communities with only a couple of hundred people, finding residents without relationships to the the victim or the accused can be next to impossible.

"Sometimes it's just not possible to select a jury in the smaller communities," said Jeff Round, director of court services. "It can be because of the close personal ties in the communities or because of knowledge of the event."

But in a recent decision by Justice ShannonSmallwood, she pointed out impartiality isn't the only problem; more and more people are just not showing upfor jury duty.

Behchoko, with a population of about 2,000, is N.W.T.'s largestTlichocommunity, but the last two jury trials there have been declared mistrials because the court was unable to find enough jurors.

"With over 1,000 people potentially eligible to serve on a jury, selecting a jury inBehchokoshould not be an issue and in thepast, it frequently has not been an issue," Smallwoodwrote in her decision.

Daryle Jackson Blackduckwas scheduled to be tried on a charge of sexual assault the week of April 28. Thecourt sent out atotal of 250 jury summons; 120 of those potential jurors were required to attend court for jury selection; of those, 57showed up.

In the previous mistrial inBehchoko, Smallwood noted only 40 per cent of those summoned for jury duty came to court.

"It is a worrisome trend that appears to be developing in Behchoko and, if it continues, may jeopardize the Courts ability to hold jury trials in that community," she wrote.

In Blackduck's case, six of the 57 people who attended jury selection were selected as jurors. Shortly after,one had to be excused for a personal matter, leaving five jurors and seven empty jury seats.

Smallwoodinstructed the court sheriff to go out on the street and round up 30 more people for jury selection.The next morning, 25 out of the 30 people summoned showed up. Four more jurors were selected before that pool was also exhausted. Smallwood then declared a mistrial.

Blackduck's defence lawyer challenged the jury panel, arguing the methods used by the court sheriff in summoning people off the street for jury duty wereequivalent topre-screening of jurors, but Smallwooddismissed the application.

A new trial for Blackduckis scheduled for January 2015 in Yellowknife.