ANGLÈS CRIMINOLÒGIC

TRIAL BY JURY – USA

WHAT IS A JURY?
JURY – is a panel of everyday citizens that are summoned by a court to determine the verdict of
a case in which one of their peers from society is on trial.
JURY DUTY – is part of our responsibility as citizens & you are fined if you do not attend when
you are called for duty.

WHAT IS THE JURY’S JOB?

Hear/See testimony and evidence in a trial, deliberate and render a verdict.

ROLE OF THE JURY IN THE USA

The main role of the jury is to hear ALL the evidence presented from both parties within the
courtroom and come to either a majority** or unanimous decision regarding the guilt/liability
of the defendant on trial.

They DO NOT decide on the sanction given if found guilty in a criminal trial, however they can
determine the amount of damages awarded if present in a civil case.

*Majority decisions are not accepted in murder trials and some drug offences unless after 6
hours the jury cannot reach a unanimous decision.

HOW AND WHEN DO JURORS SERVE?

Potential jurors receive a summons from the court and are entered into the jury pool.
Selected jurors are then empanelled to hear a case.

JUTY DUTY PAY

Jurors are paid per day (diet: meals and transportation)
An employer must release you for jury duty.

HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS

• Judge the facts in a case

• Modeled after the British experience as described in the Magna Carta 1215
• American colonists believed very strongly in the right to trial by jury
• Primary purpose is to safeguard citizens against arbitrary governmental actions
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SCOPE OF THE RIGHT (USA)

Not all litigants are entitled to a jury trial
• exempt are juvenile offenders, adults charged with petty offenses—crimes for which
authorized punishment is less than six months in jail
• some states offer wider guarantees
Not all civil litigants are entitled to a jury trial

JURY SIZE (USA)

• English juries became fixed at 12 in the fourteenth century

• Practice was adopted in the U.S.
• Supreme Court has ruled that 12 is a historical accident
• Less than 12 is allowed in: a) noncapital criminal cases, and in b) civil cases

COMPOSITION OF THE JURY IN THE USA

- Criminal there are 12 jurors
- Civil there are 6 jurors (or more) , however they are optional in a civil case, either the
defendant or plaintiff must request to have their case heard by a jury. The cost of the
jury is borne by the parties in the case, not taxpayers like in a criminal case.
- some argue that 6 member juries reduce court backlog
- social science finds:
Ø small and large juries spend equal time deciding cases
Ø small juries do not exclude important points of views
Ø jury size does not effect criminal cases
Ø some evidence that 12 member juries are less able to reach verdict

VEREDICT – UNANIMITY? WHAT IS A MAJORITY?

CIVIL CRIMINAL

USA 5 out of 6 11 of 12

SPAIN NA ???

jURY SELECTION
Juries are chosen through random processes and deliberate choice
Three steps:
a) compiling a master jury list
b) drawing the venire
c) conducting the voir dire
Do these steps produce fair and impartial juries?
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STAGE I: JURY DISTRICTS & THE JURY LIST ROLL

• The names of potential jurors are selected from the register of electors for the jury
district/city in which the case is being held.
• The juries commissioner estimates the number of jurors required in each of the jury
districts and informs the Electoral Commissioner.
• The juries commissioner then prepares a draft jury roll from the people listed on the
register of electors (electoral roll)

STAGE 2: PRE-SELECTION OF JURORS

• Juries commissioner sends a “Notice of Jury Selection” & questionnaire to all people
who have been randomly selected from the electoral roll.
• Must be answered & returned within 14-21 days.
• Questionnaire helps determine eligibility for jury service.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO SERVE ON A JURY PANEL?

Many individuals are not able to serve on a jury because they are either consider to be:
Ø INELIGIBLE
Ø DISQUALIFIED
Ø EXCUSED

*INELIGIBLE…
People who are too closely related or involved in the court process. Eg: police, lawyers, court
reporters or judges.
ALSO
People who have a disability which would render them incapable of jury service eg: intellectual
disability, people who are deaf or blind, and people that cannot speak English.

*DISQUALIFIED…
Individual who has been sentenced to prison imprisonment as a result of committing an
indictable offence.
People on remand at the time of call for jury duty.
A person who has been declared bankrupt.

*EXCUSED…
Excused for good reason: a person can apply to juries commissioner to be excused for jury
service for a good reason;
- Illness/poor health
- Incapacity
- Substantial hardship would result
- Substantial financial hardship
- Advanced age
- Substantial inconvenience to public would result.
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Excused permanently: person can apply to juries commissioner to be permanently excused

due to:
- Continued poor health
- Disability
- Advanced age

STAGE 3: PANEL PREPARATION

Responses to questionnaires are screened for those who are eligible for jury service.
A list of potential jurors is drawn up.

STAGE 4: SUMMONING THE JURORS

Individuals receive a summons not less than 10 days before they are required to appear in
court.
Not all people summons at this stage will actually serve on a jury panel.

JURY POOL
Members of the jury pool are selected for every case at random through a ballot. The name
and occupation of every potential juror is written onto the card.
A card for each juror is placed in the ballot box, and when the jurors name is read out, are
allocated to the relevant courtroom.

JURY PANEL
After members have been allocated courtrooms, a card for each juror is again placed into a
ballot box.
Members will be told:
- Type of action
- Name of the accused
- Names of the principal witnesses
- Estimated length of the trial
- Any other relevant information.
The judges associate then draws out a card and states the jurors name and occupation. The
selected juror is asked to walk across the courtroom, passed the defendant in the dock and
take their place in the jury box.
This will continue until the required number of jurors are selected.
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CHALLENGING A JUROR
Both the defendant and the prosecution in a criminal case can challenge a potential juror.
Both sides have the ability to challenge 6 individuals peremptory & can challenge a potential
juror with cause unlimited times.

*CHALLENGE WITH CAUSE

Either party may challenge a potential juror with a good reason as to why they don’t feel as
though that individual should serve on the jury. These challenges are RARE.
Eg: If a young 23 school teacher was a potential juror, and the accused was on trial for a rape
of a young 23 year old school teacher, then the defence might argue that the individual will
have a biased account of the case and therefore should not serve on the jury.

*PEREMPTORY CHALLENGE
Either party can challenge or strike out a potential juror for not reason at all.
Each side is able to do this 6 times for a criminal case & 3 times for a civil case.

DISCLOUSURE OF INFORMATION
Identities and information on the deliberations of the jury are not prohibited during the trial.
After the trial generally this information can be disclosed as long as the names of the jurors
and relevant legal proceedings are not revealed.

VENIRE

• The venire is the jury pool.

• Names are drawn from the master jury list and they are asked to report for jury duty
(the venire)
• Compliance with jury duty summonses is a major concern (many people do not report
or ask for exemptions)

VOIR DIRE
Voir dire is the examination of a prospective juror to determine if they can be fair and
impartial.
Process varies tremendously—sometimes only a judge is involved in other place lawyers
participate too.
Scope and intensity of the questioning varies too, can take a short time or long depending on
the case.

JURY CONSULTANTS
Jury selection has taken a scientific turn.
- used in high profile/expensive cases.
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- use public opinion polls, focus groups to help write questions for lawyers to use during
voir dire.
Used more by defense attorneys than prosecutors.

RULES OF EVIDENCE
Evidence refers to information presented at trial:
• real evidence includes objects (e.g., guns).
• testimony – statements by witnesses.
• expert witnesses – possess special knowledge or expertise.
• direct evidence refers to proof of a fact without other information.
• circumstantial evidence indirectly proves a point.

Two criteria for judging evidence:

• trustworthiness – only the most reliable and credible information should be used.
For example, courts avoid hearsay which is secondhand evidence – “my brother told me”
because “my brother” is not in court to testify.

• relevance – evidence must be related to an issue at trial.

Effort is to avoid immaterial or irrelevant evidence.

THE VEREDICT
The jury foreperson announces the verdict – the decision of a trial court.
After the announcement either party can ask for the jurors to be polled
Juries convict in criminal cases 2/3 of the time and in civil cases find for the plaintiffs about
50%
Studies show that juries and judges would frequently agree on outcome.

TRIALS AS BALANCING WHEELS

Juries are democratic institutions.
• represent a deep commitment to the role of citizens in the administration of justice.
Juries resolve disputes that individuals are unable or unwilling to resolve.
The settlement of most cases is directly related to past jury verdicts in similar cases.
Juries introduce community norms into the legal process.
There is wide variation in verdicts.
yet! Juries introduce considerable uncertainty in the legal process.

CONCLUSION
Trials are protected in the Constitution and a significant part of our legal history.
Jury trials are an essential party of the legal system.
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Issues surrounding jury size, unanimity, selection and decision making are frequent topics of
study.
An important conclusion is that there is considerable discretion.