A MANUAL OF JURY TRIAL PROCEDURES - 2004
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Chapter Two: Jury Selection

2.12     Dual Juries   

The Ninth Circuit upheld a district court's use of dual juries in United States v. Sidman, 470 F.2d 1158 (9th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1127 (1973). While holding that the use of two juries did not violate any constitutional, statutory, or procedural right, the court cautioned against their use absent guidelines established by district court rule. Id. at 1170.

On habeas review of a state court conviction, the court again held that the use of a dual jury did not violate defendant's rights under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments in the absence of a showing of actual prejudice in Beam v. Paskett, 3 F.3d 1301, 1303-04 (9th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1060 (1994). The court, however, expressed concern about their use in capital cases. Id. at 1304. In Lambright v. Stewart, 191 F.3d 1181, 1186-87 (9th Cir. 1999) (en banc) the court held that there was no per se constitutional error in the use of dual juries in state court capital cases, overruling any suggestion to the contrary in Beam.