Can a defendant exercise a peremptory challenge before the jury has been sworn in?

The district judge did not err. The blind-strike system she employed permitted the defendants to exercise the full number of peremptory challenges authorized by law, and the defendants were fully informed of the nature of the system. See United States v. Turner, 558 F.2d 535, 538 (9th Cir.1977) (district court may not unduly restrict defendant's use of challenges, and must give adequate notice of system utilized). The defendants' complaint is that the court declined to relieve them of the consequences of their own error. To permit the defendants to exercise their peremptory challenge after the court had announced the composition of the jury, however, would have partially defeated the purpose of the blind-strike system. The district court was not compelled to accept such a result.