They’ve been asked whether they listen to talk radio, whether they’ve ever called Crime Stoppers, and whether they like to watch the Lifetime Channel and “Law and Order.”

That’s not to mention whether they’ve ever been abused, whether they’re comfortable looking at crime-scene photos and whether they’ve ever had custody of their grandchildren.

In recent days, 108 potential jurors in the upcoming murder trial of Kansas State University English professor Thomas E. Murray submitted confidential, 13-page pre-trial questionnaires to Douglas County District Court.

A major purpose of the questionnaire, a step taken in only the most high-profile court cases, is to help attorneys spot jurors who already have made up their minds about the defendant’s guilt or innocence.

Beyond that, the questions will help lawyers for both Murray and the prosecution decide which jurors to eliminate for strategic reasons when the trial starts Monday. Factors in that decision-making will include how the potential jurors answered questions about their preference for Rush Limbaugh, their jobs or their taste in TV programs.

“All things being equal, the prosecutors are usually looking for someone with a little more stable lifestyle — a little more attachment to the system, if you will,” said Pete Rowland, a former Kansas University professor who studies jury behavior and co-founded a company called Litigation Insights. “The defense attorneys? (They’re looking) maybe for someone who’s had a couple of bumps in the road in dealing with the system.”

Unusual step

Usually, attorneys don’t pose any questions to potential jurors before they show up at court for duty.

The last time there was talk of sending Douglas County jurors a written questionnaire was in the case of Damien Lewis, who eventually entered a guilty plea to the 2002 murders of Pete Wallace and Wyona Chandlee.

The murder trial of Thomas E. Murray will begin Monday with jury selection in Douglas County District Court.

But picking a jury will be especially difficult in the Murray case, observers say. One reason is that the trial is expected to last four to six weeks; another is that there’s been extensive pre-trial media coverage.

Murray’s attorneys suggested the idea of a written survey, then worked with prosecutors to draft the questions.

“Suffice it to say, all of these steps are taken with the hope of having a fair and impartial jury,” defense attorney Pedro Irigonegaray said.

The survey asks what jurors have read about the case, how interested they’ve been in it, what they’ve said to others about it, and whether they’ve formed impressions about Murray.

“People are more likely to acknowledge bias on a questionnaire — because it’s anonymous — than they are in open court,” Rowland said.

Potential jurors also might be more likely to give truthful answers about other sensitive issues, such as whether they’ve ever been in an abusive relationship.

“Some of the questions will allow us to handle personal issues discreetly so that they don’t suffer any embarrassment or bad feelings,” Assistant Dist. Atty. Angela Wilson said.

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77 questions

Still, the most difficult part about screening a jury, Rowland said, is trying to determine how forthcoming a particular juror is being with answers, especially to questions in which there might be a socially acceptable answer.

Some of the subjects covered in the survey are standard things asked of jurors: work background, family situation, what hobbies they have, and what they think about the criminal-justice system. It asks them which they think is worse: a guilty person going free or an innocent person going to prison.

But some of the questions are more psychologically or politically probing, such as those asking about a person’s preference in talk radio hosts.

Someone who lists Rush Limbaugh or Dr. Laura as a talk-radio preference might place more importance on law and order than on civil rights, Rowland said.

“None of these questions are particularly reliable standing alone, but what the consultant for each side will do, either formally or informally, is put together an index where these answers add up,” he said.

Other questions in the survey appear tailored to the Murray case, such as whether the potential juror has any experience with mediation or has ever raised grandchildren.

The slaying victim, Carmin D. Ross, Murray’s ex-wife, was a mediator. Her parents now have custody of the couple’s daughter and are expected to testify.

How selection works

On Monday morning, 45 of the potential jurors will come to the courthouse and be sworn in. Attorneys then will have a chance to ask them follow-up questions about their written answers and to ask whether anyone in the room has a reason he or she can’t serve.

Of that first group of potential jurors, some will be excused by Judge Robert Fairchild “for cause”– whether it’s a job that requires them to be present, a relationship with one of the witnesses, or a closed mind about the case.

If, for example, five are excused, five more people will be brought into the room, sworn and questioned.

That process will continue until all 45 people in the room could legitimately serve on the jury. From that point, defense and prosecution attorneys will be able to strike an equal number of jurors for strategic reasons, with no questions asked. Ultimately, that will leave 12 jurors and three alternates.

Something that remains unknown is whether enough people in the Douglas County jury pool still have open minds about the case. If juror after juror insists he or she can’t be impartial — if the selection process “hits the wall,” in the words of one attorney — the case likely would be moved to another county.

But attorneys say there’s no way of knowing what will happen on that front until jury selection begins.