The opinion
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
EASTERN DIVISION
JERRY LAWLER, as father, next friend and )
Personal Representative/Administrator of the )
Estate of BRIAN CHRISTOPHER LAWLER, )
deceased, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) No. 1:19-cv-01174-STA-tmp
)
HARDEMAN COUNTY, TENNESSEE; JOHN )
DOOLEN; LEONARD BROWN; ELLEN )
FUTRELL; WILLIAM GONZALEZ; AND )
JUDY WIGGINS, )
)
Defendants. )
ORDER ON JURY QUESTIONNAIRE
A jury trial is set to commence in this case on November 9, 2022. The Court hereby gives
the parties notice of its intent to use a concise jury questionnaire in advance of trial. The practice
of having the venire complete a questionnaire is useful in identifying possible juror conflicts and
exposing prejudicial bias before voir dire begins. The Court typically requests that the venire
complete the questionnaire the week before trial. The Clerk of Court then provides the parties
with a copy of the completed questionnaires on the Friday afternoon before the trial begins, in time
for counsel to review the questionnaires and use them during jury selection. While the Court has
its own standard jury questionnaire addressed to general background information, the Court
recognizes that special questions addressed to the unique facts of each case can also be appropriate.
Consistent with its discretion “in deciding what questions should be asked on voir dire,”
the Court finds good cause to give the parties an opportunity to propose any special questions to
include on the questionnaire for this case. Mu’Min v. Virginia, 500 U.S. 415, 424 (1991). The
parties should submit to the Court and file on the docket special questions, if any, prior to the
pretrial conference, which is currently set for October 21, 2022. Therefore, the parties’ proposals
are due no later than October 14, 2022.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/ S. Thomas Anderson
S. THOMAS ANDERSON
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Date: September 9, 2022