voir dire
(legal, England, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, United States) A preliminary hearing without a jury in order to determine whether the evidence meets the test for admissibility to go to a full hearing
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When I was a law student interning at Legal Aid Society, Judge Drysdale pulled me and my supervising attorney into a closet off the courtroom to full on scream at me for googling potential jurors during voir dire.
i’ve been on a jury twice in baltimore and i assume it’s because i shut the hell up during voir dire and when my tattoos are covered i mostly look like a nice white lady who pays her taxes
Definitions
(legal, England, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, United States) A preliminary hearing without a jury in order to determine whether the evidence meets the test for admissibility to go to a full hearing at a criminal trial, in the legal systems of England and Wales, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
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(legal, US) The preliminary phase of a jury trial in which the jurors are examined and selected.
“When I was a law student interning at Legal Aid Society, Judge Drysdale pulled me and my supervising attorney into a closet off the courtroom to full on scream at me for googling potential jurors during voir dire.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“i’ve been on a jury twice in baltimore and i assume it’s because i shut the hell up during voir dire and when my tattoos are covered i mostly look like a nice white lady who pays her taxes”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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(legal) A hearing in the context of a larger trial to determine some specific issue relevant to that trial, such as the admissibility of a piece of evidence or the competency of a witness to testify.
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