Nation IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Court Clarifies Rule on Jury Selection

New York state’s highest court refused to apply a jury selection ruling retroactively, sweeping aside prosecutors’ fears that hundreds of cases would be overturned and have to be retried. The Court of Appeals acknowledged unanimously that ruling otherwise would have caused chaos in the state’s overburdened court system. The court had ruled Oct. 27 that a defendant in a minor drug case should be retried because defendants have a right to be included in so-called quiet conferences held among judges, lawyers and prospective jurors. The conferences, also called sidebars, are often held to give potential jurors privacy when they are asked, for example, if they have ever been the victim of a crime.