The National Post broke a story regarding a judge in a Windsor first-degree murder trial declaring a mistrial as a result of secret background checks conducted by police.  In response, stressing the role of impartiality in our jury system, Ontario’s Attorney-General Chris Bentley affirmed that Crown attorneys within their own policy manual have an obligation to disclose to defence any relevant information of material obtained in the course of an investigation.  The Star recently published an article mentioning a 2004 letter from a Crown’s office to several police forces asking them to determine whether any potential jurors were “disreputable” or would qualify as someone “we would not want as a juror.”  As the statute governing jury selection in Ontario makes clear that someone can’t serve if they’ve ever been convicted of an indictable offence, there is also a provision in Section 38 of that statute which states that every person who influences or attempts to influence the selection of persons for inclusion in or omission from any jury roll or panel, except in a proper procedure under the Act, is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both. R.S.O. 1990, c. J.3, s. 38 (1).