In the most recent Los Angeles Lawyer is an article exploring the legal and ethical issues of having a private investigator, investigate jurors. (It's here.) It's written by two associates from the best investigative firm in California, Batza & Associates. This ancedote was especially interesting:
As part of the effort to profile jurors, some litigators hire investigators to perform what is sometimes called a drive-by. This involves a visit to, and careful observation of, a juror’s residence and neighborhood. While an investigator cannot directly contact a juror or a juror’s family members or interview a juror’s neighbors or acquaintances, a drive-by is permissible and can sometimes yield valuable information regarding the juror’s economic, cultural, and social environment.
One investigator, for example, performed a drive-by of a juror in a high-profile tobacco industry case and observed a vehicle parked in the driveway of the juror’s home bearing a bumper sticker that read, “Cigarettes Kill!”
