I know there's a concern about expanding jury selection in Canada. You hear the horror stories in the United States about jury selection going on for days and weeks, and people trying to craft a certain jury. I don't agree with that assessment, but I'm also not suggesting that you go to an open inquiry of jurors. I do think, however, that in certain types of cases in which someone has been a victim of a similar crime, that person is not automatically excluded, even in the United States, but has an opportunity to talk about whether they feel that they are able to separate their own personal experiences from the decision-making in that case.
I've had a number of instances of a juror saying, “Yes, I'm fine; I can put it aside”, and then finding out in deliberations, once they see the evidence and start hearing the testimony, that they have to be excused. Sometimes that causes problems with mistrials and whatnot. Just having the information.... It goes back to making sure they're informed. Ultimately you can let the juror make the decision if it's something that they think they can do or not do.
I'm not talking just generally. Very few people are going to say, “Yes, I'm great with hearing about child abuse.” It's really more those people who have had a personal experience that will make it hit so close to home for them that they're not going to be able to separate their emotional response from the decision-making. Among the jurors I spoke to in Canada, even though they were not able to get into the specifics, there were several who make it clear that there was someone who had experienced something in their past that was preventing them from being able to be a juror in the case.