Chapter 8 - Juries (cases) Flashcards
Which case established the independence of the jury?
Bushell’s case (1670)
What are the facts in Bushell’s case?
Jurors refused to convict Quaker activists and the judge fined them and committed them to prison for their refusal to convict
What is the modern case that establishes the independence of the jury?
R v McKenna (1960)
What was the facts in R v McKenna?
The judge threatened the jurors that if they did not return a verdict in 10 minutes then they would be locked up all night and the D’s conviction was quashed because of this interference
What are the two cases involved in police checks?
- R v Crown Court at Sheffield, ex parte Brownlow (1980)
2. R v Mason(1980)
What were the facts in R v Crown Court at Sheffield, ex parte Brownlow?
The defendant was a police officer and the defence sought permission to get the jury panel for convictions and the judge gave permission but the Court of Appeal held that this was a serious invasion of privacy
What were the facts in R v Mason?
The Chief Constable for Northamptonshire had been allowing widespread use of unauthorised vetting of criminal records and the Court of Appeal approved of this as the police were only doing their normal duty of preventing crime
What case is associated with wider background checks?
The ABC trial of 1978
What were the facts of the ABC trial?
Two journalists and a soldier were charged with collecting secret information and it was discovered the jury had been vetted for their loyalty and a new trial was ordered and the A-G laid down guidelines
What case is associated with to the array?
R v Ford (1989)
What was held in the case of R v Ford?
A challenge to the array was used in this case and it was held that if the jury was chosen in a random manner then it could not be challenged simply because it was not multi-racial
Which case is associated with jury equity?
Ponting’s case (1984)
What were the facts in Ponting’s case?
A civil servant was charged with leaking information on the sinking of a ship and he pleaded not guilty because his actions had been in the public interest and the jury refused to convict him
What two cases are associated with perverse decisions?
- R v Randle and Pottle (1991)
2. R v Kronlid and others (1996)
What were the facts in the case of R v Randle and Pottle?
D’s were charged with helping a spy escape from prison and flee Russian and their prosecution did not occur until 25 years after the escape, the jury acquitted them possibly as a protest over the time lapse between the offence and the prosecution