Lopez-Stayer v. Pitts

The scope and extent of voir dire is vested in the discretion of the trial judge conducting the trial. State v. Frederiksen, 40 Wn. App. 749, 752-53, 700 P.2d 369 (1985). Here, the trial judge refused to let the plaintiff’s lawyer use the word “insurance” in the conduct of his voir dire of a jury. The judge did permit extensive inquiry into the jurors’ attitudes on medical malpractice litigation, the medical malpractice “crisis,” claims, and frivolous lawsuits. We conclude that the limitations imposed by the trial judge fell well within his discretionary authority. And we therefore affirm the…