Outgoing Multnomah County DA changes jury selection for misdemeanor trials

Starting next week, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office will no longer allow prospective jurors to be dropped without reason for misdemeanor trials. The change was made to reduce racial bias during jury selection, according to outgoing DA Mike Schmidt. The new policy will not apply to trials involving domestic violence charges, and will allow for some exceptions for prosecutors to request a prospective juror be removed. But the move appears to have blindsided Senior Deputy District Attorney Nathan Vasquez who defeated Schmidt in the May primary election and will take over as district attorney in January. Joining us to share more about this development is OPB criminal justice and legal affairs reporter Conrad Wilson.