Art. 106. The suspicion of the jurors must be argued orally, deciding by plan of the president of the Jury’s Court, who will reject it if, denied by the rejected person, it is not immediately proven, which will be recorded in the minutes.
Suspicion of jurors
Suspicion of jurors: The causes for suspicion of jurors are found in articles 448 and 449 of the CPP . The following are prevented from serving on the same Council: I – husband and wife; II – ascending and descending; III – father-in-law and son-in-law or daughter-in-law; IV – brothers and brothers-in-law, during their marriage; V – uncle and nephew; VI – stepfather, stepmother or stepson. The same impediment will occur in relation to people who maintain a stable union recognized as a family entity. A juror who: I – has served in a previous trial of the same case, regardless of the determining cause of the subsequent trial, cannot serve; II – in the case of a concurrence of people, there has been a member of the Judgment Council that judged the other accused.
Application to jurors of the causes of suspicion of judges: Applies to jurors, according to article 448, paragraph 2 , the provisions on impediments, suspicion and incompatibilities of judges. They are the causes of articles 252, 253 and 254 .
Drawing of the 25 jurors: Once the agenda is organized, the presiding judge orders the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Brazilian Bar Association and the Public Defender’s Office to attend, on a designated day and time, the drawing of jurors who will act in the periodic meeting. The draw, presided over by the judge, is done open doors, and it is up to him to withdraw the ballots until he completes the number of twenty-five jurors, for the periodic or extraordinary meeting. The drawing is carried out between the fifteenth and the tenth business day prior to the installation of the meeting ( articles 432 and 433 of the CPP). Therefore, the parties have the opportunity to find out in advance which will be the 25 jurors whose names will be submitted to a drawing at the time of the judgment in Plenary, thus having time to carry out diligences, aiming to identify any cause of suspicion or impediment.
In the Plenary and when the juror declares himself a suspect: With at least fifteen jurors appearing, the presiding judge declares the work in progress. Before drawing lots for the members of the Judgment Council, the presiding judge will clarify the impediments, suspicion and incompatibilities contained in articles 448 and 449 of this Code ( articles 463 and 466 ). This is the moment when, spontaneously, the juror must, if necessary, declare himself a suspect.
Time for the parties to argue the juror’s suspicion: Verifying that the ballots relating to the jurors present are in the ballot box, the presiding judge will raffle seven among them for the formation of the Judgment Council. As the ballots are being removed from the ballot box, the presiding judge will read them, and the defense and, after that, the Public Prosecutor’s Office may refuse the drawn jurors, up to three each party, without giving reasons for refusal. It is at this moment that the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the defense can refuse jurors due to suspicion. Suspicious refusals do not count towards the three (unreasonable) limit.
