Brian A. Wilson (’96) Selected for Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Juror Voir Dire Other Courts Working Group
The clinical instructor was chosen to evaluate jury selection procedures in four of the five trial courts that conduct jury trials.
The Supreme Judicial Court, the highest appellate court in Massachusetts, recently named BU Law’s own Clinical Instructor Brian A. Wilson (’96) to the Other Courts Working Group of its Committee on Juror Voir Dire. Established in June 2014, the committee is tasked with improving the process by which jurors are questioned and selected in all trial courts that conduct jury trials.
Wilson will work with a group of esteemed judges, lawyers, bar association representatives, and legal scholars with expertise in jury selection to “promote the right to a fair and impartial jury.” The Other Courts Working Group members will examine and make recommendations regarding juror voir dire practices in the District Courts, Boston Municipal Court, Juvenile Courts, and Housing Courts. They will consider possible changes to criminal and civil rules and work with the Superior Court to recommend best practices around a recent enactment of a law that allows for attorneys or self-represented litigants to question prospective jurors.
“Brian Wilson is perfectly suited to the work this committee is accomplishing,” notes Dean O’Rourke. “His extensive experience in the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, particularly as grand jury coordinator, will be of great value to the working group.”
Wilson replaces David Breen (’90), who was recently appointed an associate justice of Boston Municipal Court’s Central Division, as supervisor of the student attorneys in the Prosecutor Program in the Criminal Law Clinic. A 17-year veteran of the Norfolk County DA’s Office and alum of BU Law’s Criminal Clinic, Wilson employs his expertise to guide second- and third-year law students on all aspects of criminal procedure, evidence, and trial advocacy. As assistant district attorney, Wilson prosecuted felony cases in the Norfolk Superior Court, including first-degree murder cases as a member of the Homicide Unit, and participated in the empanelment of grand juries and instructed them on procedure and applicable law as grand jury coordinator.
“It’s an honor to have been chosen to help improve the process of selecting fair and impartial juries throughout the Commonwealth,” Wilson says. “Safeguarding that fundamental right remains an evolving discipline nationwide, and I look forward to working with the other members of the group to examine how we can best do so in Massachusetts.”
