No. CIV-97-113-B
DOUGLAS G. DRY, JUANITA
McCONNELL and ROSIE BURLISON,
Plaintiffs, vs. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al.,
Defendants.
COME NOW Defendants City of Talihina, Jack England, Malcomb Wade, Niky Hibdon, Lloyd James, John Wheat and Naomi O'Daniels ("Defendants" unless otherwise specified), by and through their attorneys of record, Steidley & Neal, and request that the following questions be propounded upon the prospective jurors in this matter.
1) Are any of you, or any of your immediate family, acquainted with or related in any way to Plaintiff Douglas G. Dry? If so, please give the extent of your acquaintanceship or relationship.
2) Are any of you, or any of your immediate family, acquainted with or related in any way to Plaintiff Juanita McConnell? If so, please give the extent of your acquaintanceship or relationship.
3) Are any of you, or any of your immediate family, acquainted with or related in any way to Plaintiff Rose Burlison? If so, please give the extent of your acquaintanceship or relationship.
4) Have you, or any members of your immediate
family, ever had any business dealings with, or been employed
by the City of Talihina, Oklahoma? If so, please state the circumstances.
5) Are any of you, or any of your immediate family, acquainted
with or related in any way to Defendant Jack England? If so, please
give the extent of your acquaintanceship or relationship.
6) Are any of you, or any of your immediate family, acquainted with or related in any way to Defendant Malcomb Wade? If so, please give the extent of your acquaintanceship or relationship.
7) Are any of you, or any of your immediate family, acquainted with or related in any way to Defendant Niky Hibdon? If so, please give the extent of your acquaintanceship or relationship.
8) Are any of you, or any of your immediate family, acquainted with or related in any way to Defendant Lloyd James? If so, please give the extent of your acquaintanceship or relationship.
9) Are any of you, or any of your immediate
family, acquainted with or related in any way to Defendant John
Wheat? If so, please give the extent of your acquaintanceship
or relationship.
10) Are any of you, or any of your immediate family, acquainted
with or related in any way to Defendant Naomi O'Daniels? If so,
please give the extent of your acquaintanceship or relationship.
11) The Plaintiffs are represented by Douglas G. Dry whose law firm is in Wilburton, Oklahoma. Have you ever heard of or otherwise been acquainted with this attorney or anyone who works for his law firm? If so, please explain the extent of your knowledge and experience.
12) The Defendants and City of Talihina
are represented by Charles D. "Buddy" Neal, Jr. and
Eric D. Janzen of the law firm of Steidley & Neal, of McAlester,
Oklahoma. Have you ever heard of, or been otherwise acquainted
with these attorneys or anyone who works for this law firm? If
so, please explain the extent of your knowledge and experience.
13) Have you, or any member of your family, ever made a claim
for money, damages, injuries, or loss of any kind? If so, please
explain the circumstances.
a) Did you retain an attorney?
b) Was a lawsuit filed?
c) Was the case tried in court?
d) Without telling the results, was the case settled? If so, was it to your
satisfaction?
14) Where are you currently employed?
a) In what capacity are you employed?
b) How long have you been employed?
c) What have been your previous employments?
15) Are you married?
a) If so, is your spouse employed?
b) In what capacity is he or she employed?
c) How long has your spouse been so employed?
d) What other jobs has your spouse held?
16) Other than what you have been told about this case today, have you ever heard of or have any knowledge concerning the facts or circumstances surrounding this litigation?
17) Have you ever served on a jury prior
to today? If so, please advise whether this was a civil or criminal
trial, and the outcome.
18) Do any of you feel that just because the Defendants have been
sued, that the Defendants automatically must owe some money to
the Plaintiffs?
19) Does everyone realize that a party only has to file the proper
papers with the court to file a suit and that the Defendants are
required to come in to defend the suit whether or not the Defendants
are liable for money damages to the Plaintiff.?
20) Will each of you firmly promise not to let sympathy, sentiment or prejudice affect your deliberations in your decisions? In other words, you should not let the natural sympathy that you would have for a person who has received the type of injury sustained by the Plaintiff influence your decisions in determining the facts of this case. You must lay aside that natural sympathy and decide this case of the facts in determining the liability in the case.
21) Do you understand that it is extremely important that you each use your own independent powers of observation, reasoning, and judgment in reaching a decision in this case? Will you do so?
22) Is there anything whatsoever that would
prevent you from giving both sides a fair and impartial trial
in this case?
23) Have you, or any of your family or friends, ever been employed
in the field of law enforcement or as a jailer?
24) Have you, or any of your family or friends, ever been employed
by a city or town?
25) Have you, or any of your family or friends, ever been involved
in an altercation or dispute with the police? If so, please explain
the circumstances.
26) Have you, or any member of your family, ever been arrested?
If so, explain the circumstances.
27) Have you, or any of your friends or immediate family, ever
spent time in jail or prison? If so, explain the circumstances.
28) Do you, and each of you, realize that every law enforcement
officer in the United States gives up certain rights as a part
of his job?
29) Have you, or any of your friends or immediate family, ever
worked for the Choctaw Nation in any capacity?
30) If you are of Choctaw ancestry, have you ever campaigned for,
contributed to the campaign expenses of or voted for Douglas G.
Dry for Chief of the Choctaw Nation?
31) Have you, or any member of your family, ever been stopped
or detained by a police officer, law enforcement officer, security
guard, or other peace officer. If so, explain the circumstances.
32) Have you, or any member of your immediate
family, filed a claim or complaint for violation of civil rights?
If so, explain the circumstances.
33) Have you, or any member of your immediate family, ever had
any training in law enforcement or security? If so, explain the
circumstances.
34) Have you, or any member of your immediate family, ever had
any training or education in Tribal law or procedures? If so,
explain the circumstances.
35) Have you, or any member of your family, ever served as an
officer or employee of a town, city, or county? If so, please
explain the circumstances.
36) Have you, or any member of your immediate family, ever filed or made a complaint of any sort against a police officer, security officer, or law enforcement officer of any type? If so, please explain the fact and circumstances.
37) Have you, or any member of your immediate
family, ever been treated harshly or unfairly by a law enforcement
or security officer? If so, explain the circumstances.
38) Do you, and each one of you, realize there are many different
ways in which a police officer or law enforcement officer receives
training? These include classroom instruction, on-the-job training,
review of written materials, performance evaluations and other
methods.
39) Do you, and each one of you, realize the primary obligation of law enforcement officers and jailers nationwide is to preserve and protect the safety and well-being of the citizens of the community in which the officer is employed? And that it is the responsibility of jailers to safely incarcerate prisoners left in their custody?
40) Does the fact that a city is a Party
to this case affect your feelings about this case or make you
lean toward either side?
41) During the trial, the following witnesses may be called to
testify directly or by deposition on behalf of the parties: (final
fist of potential witnesses to be supplied pending the Court's
decision on objections lodged by Defendants against Plaintiffs'
proposed witnesses)
42) Have any of you ever been acquainted with or do you know anything about any of these witnesses? If so, please state:
a) The name of the witness;
b) The nature of your relationship to the witness.
43) Do you know of any reason, or has anything
occurred to you during this question period that might make you
doubtful that you would be a completely fair and impartial juror
in this case? If you do, it is you duty to disclose the reason
at this time.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, Defendants City of Talihina, Jack
England, Malcomb Wade, Niky Hibdon, Lloyd James, John Wheat and
Naomi O'Daniels move this Court to propound the following questions
upon the prospective jurors in this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
STEIDLEY & NEAL
Attorneys for Defendants City of Talihina,
Jack England, Malcomb Wade, Niky Hibdon,
Lloyd James, John Wheat and Naomi O'Daniels
CERTIFICATE OF MAILING
I hereby certify that on the 7th day of July 1999, a true
and correct copy of the foregoing was mailed via certified mail
with proper postage fully prepaid to the following:
Mr. Douglas G. Dry
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 637
Wilburton, OK 74578
Peter Bernhard, Esq.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
U.S. District Court
Northern District of Oklahoma
333 West 4th Street, Suite 3460
Tulsa, OK 74103-3809
Mr. Steve Shreder
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 810
Talihina, OK 74571