Opinion ID: 550346
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Selection of the Jury by a Magistrate

Text: 35 Parkin contends that his conviction should be reversed because a magistrate presided over jury selection in his case. He argues this result is mandated by the Supreme Court's decision in Gomez v. United States, 490 U.S. 858, 109 S.Ct. 2237, 104 L.Ed.2d 923 (1989). In Gomez, the Court held that the Federal Magistrates Act does not permit district courts to delegate jury selection to federal magistrates and that such a delegation is not harmless error where the defendant has objected thereto. Here, however, Parkin's counsel expressly consented to the magistrate's role in jury selection. As we stated in United States v. Lake, 910 F.2d 414, 417 (7th Cir.1990), where the defendant consents to [the magistrate's] participation, a federal magistrate may conduct the selection of a jury in a felony case.