Chapter 9: The Jury Flashcards
The ___________ protects the _____________ from overzealous ____________ by the _______________.
jury; defendant; oppression; Government
The ancient practice of having average ___________ decide the ___________ of ___________ charged with a __________ ____________ was first done in ________ and _______. However, the United States gets its _________ practices of determining _______ from ___________’s _______ _____ _________.
citizens; fate; individuals; criminal offense; Athens; Rome; jury; guilt; England’s; trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal
- Middle Ages England
- Persons accused of crime perform grueling tasks (walking along burning coals, fetching rocks out of boiling water). Whoever arose from the tasks uninjured or unscathed, were considered not guilty (God protected them). Whoever was injured was declared guilty.
In 1215, what did _______ _________ introduce that established the right to a ________ ________ before punishment was inflicted upon the guilty?
Answer: __________ ______________.
King John; jury trial; Magna Carta
Case of William Pen and William Mead (1670)
Pen & Mead were accused of preaching Quaker beliefs contrary to what was taught in Church of England.
Jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
Trial judge didn’t agree with jury decision –> had jury members fined & imprisoned until they paid off their fines.
Jury member Edward Bushell filed suit against trial judge, for his imprisonment, in Court of Common Pleas.
Ultimately decided that jury has the right to return verdict resulting in acquittal, (if defendant is wrongly prosecuted by govt.) and that they can’t be coerced and intimated by govt. or court into making decisions.
Case of John Peter Zenger (1735)
Zenger published pieces in New York newspaper criticizing the King’s choice for Governor –> arrested and charged with seditious libel.
Trial judge told jury they only need to find that what Zenger wrote criticized the govt, which was a fact.
Zenger’s attorney argued that we are all the same as Zenger (we all criticize the govt) only he did it in writing. Argued that no one should be punished for criticizing the govt.
Jury returned not guilty verdict in 5 minutes.
Thomas Jefferson believed the jury was the only…
safeguard against the power of the state.
The _____ ___________ guarantees the right to an __________ ________.
6th Amendment; impartial jury
Primary role of the Jury
To act as Fact Finders
At what stage in the trial does the jury really make a determination of what happened in the crime?
Deliberation
Jury has ____________ to reject all ____________ given by a particular ___________ or ________ of a __________ _______ from an _______ ______________.
discretion; testimony; witness; reliability; scientific test; expert witness.
Jurors may not _________ _____ information about the _________ research ________ __________ to weigh the _________ of _________ _________ presented during trial.
look up; case; scientific articles; validity; forensic evidence
Jury’s are not allowed to conduct their own __________ on the facts of the _________. Jurors are only allowed to make decisions based on ___________ __________ __________. Even when a judge _________ a piece of evidence, it’s difficult for a juror to _________ it, but they are still expected to ___________ it.
investigations; case; legally admitted evidence; excludes; unhear; disregard
Jury’s are not allowed to consider the _____________’s __________ during the trial. The judge will oftentimes notify the jury that they can not take the ___________’s __________, which he has according to his ____ _____________ right against ________ ___________, as a factor in considering guilt.
defendant’s silence; defendant’s silence; 5th Amendment; self incrimination
Lastly, Jury’s aren’t allowed to consider the _____________ that ___________ will face as a result of the _____________. ______________ is completely irrelevant for the jury’s purposes; their only suppose preface their decisions on the ________ of the case, which happened in the _______.
punishment; defendants; conviction; Punishment; facts; past
Duncan v. Louisiana (1968)
Involved prosecution based on battery
Right to jury trial only applied to cases where there is a potential for the death penalty, or hard labor in imprisonment.
Duncan was convicted during trial and sentenced to 2 years in prison.
Duncan appealed saying right to jury trial for sentence of 2 years was violated.
Supreme court ruled, defendants have the right to jury trial for all serious offenses. Also ruled that right to jury trial doesn’t extend to petty offenses.
Baldwin v. New York (1970)
defendants have the right to trial by jury for offenses where punishment is more than six months.
1996, the Court affirmed that a person whose charged with ____________ minor __________ _______________ for which the defendant must serve more than ______ ____________ is not entitled to _________ ___________.
several; petty offenses; 6 months; jury trial.
Muniz v. Hoffman (1975)
Regardless of how large monetary fines may be, if the offense involves imprisonment of 6 months or less, it is considered petty.
Two important aspects of Criminal Trial
Size and Unanimity
After _______ years, the jury _______ is still _____ people.
200; size; 12
The use of _____ jurors is not _______________ _________________.
12; constitutionally mandated
Williams v. Florida (1970)
Concluded that juries do not have to be made up of 12 people to be constitutional.
Constitutional requirement for how many people should be apart of a jury?
- Large enough to foster group deliberation w/o outside attempts or intimidation.
- Large enough to create cross section of the community.
Ballew v. Georgia (1978)
6 jurors was the minimum number of jurors permissible.
the Court held that members with fewer than _____ jurors was ________________. Studies have found that less number of jurors __________ the possibility for “________ ________ ____________” and aren’t ________________ of a ___________ ________ of the ____________.
6; unconstitutional; decrease; effective group deliberation; representative; cross section; community
By the ______ century, several states permitted the use of _____-___________ __________
20th; non-unanimous verdicts
Apodaca v. Oregon (1972)
10-2 verdict is permissible non-capital cases (and didn’t diminish function of the jury).
Johnson v. Louisiana (1972)
9-3 verdict is permissible in non-capital cases (and didn’t diminish validity or reliability of decision).
Burch v. Louisiana (1979)
When there is a 6 person jury, the verdict must be unanimous.
Two Goals of the Jury Selection Process
1) Creating a cross section of the community
2) Establishing an Impartial jury.
3 Stages in Selecting the Jury
1) Developing a Master Jury List
2) From Venire to Jury Panel
3) Voire Dire
Stage 1: Developing a Master Jury List
Jurisdiction develops a “master list” or “jury wheel” of all potential jurors within boundaries of jurisdiction who can be chosen for jury duty.
Under the “Key man” system established in the _______’s, _________ __________ and ______ __________ alike would consult _________ and ____________ leaders on who should serve on a __________ panel. Under this system, the majority of _________ selected were Middle aged ________ _______. This practice slowly ________ upon the ______-________ movement for African Americans.
1960’s; court clerks; judicial commissioners; civic; political; jury; jurors; white men; died; civil-rights
Jury Selection and Service Act
established that defendants entitled to trial by jury must have
1) Jury panel consisting of a cross section of the community.
2) jury panel consisting of citizens
Taylor v. Louisiana (1975)
At the time women had to submit a written declaration if they desired to serve on a jury.
No govt. action can be made to exclude a segment of society.
Supreme Court affirmed that Jury panel must be selected from impartially drawn jury panel of a cross section of the community.
During the development of the master list (jury wheel) process, the Court stopped relying solely on _________ ____________ as many young, non white, poor, less-educated people don’t have much representation among the voting population. Identification process to construct an impartial jury now extends to people through their ________’s ___________, _________ directories, _________ __________ etc…
voter registration; driver’s license; phone; fishing license
Reasons for low juror yield rates (rate of people actually reporting for jury duty)
- Staleness of master jury lists
- jurors may move, and their address will change / reports for jury duty are rendered undeliverable because juror no longer lives at their first address anymore. - Citizens with certain occupations (those directly working w/ criminal justice system) are exempt from jury duty.
Stage 2: Venire to Jury Panel
Venire
group of people who report for jury duty at specific time
(aka jury pool)
Jury panel
set number of members from the venire chosen at random to report to courtroom
A Jury panel may consist of _______ people when constructing a ______-person jury, or ______ people when constructing a ______-person jury.
20; 6; 40; 12
Stage 3: Voire Dire
process of judge and attorneys interviewing prospective jurors.
Ensures that people serving jury duty can consider the case in a unbiased, impartial manner.
Prospective jurors who know any the __________ who are going to give ____________ are typically _____________ from the panel.
witnesses; testimony; removed
During the _____________ for ___________, prospective jurors who acknowledge, they can’t listen to and render a verdict _______________, based on the facts of the case are also __________ from the panel.
Challenge for Cause; impartially; removed
Jurors are ___________ a series of questions so the ____________ and _____________ can observe the potential __________, _____________, and _______________ of the jury panel.
asked; attorneys; judges; leanings; attitudes; predispositions
Challenge for Cause
attorney must present judge with reasons as to why jury member is unfit to serve on the jury.
Challenge for Cause are routinely _____________ by the _______ ___________ _______________. Because _________ rarely make __________ statements indicating ___________, the challenge for cause is oftentimes _____________ if the _________ believes the evidence is not ______________ enough to __________ a member of the ___________, even though the number of challenges had by the _________ is nearly unlimited.
denied; trial court judges; jurors; explicit; bias; denied; judge; sufficient; remove; jury; attorney
Preemptory Challenge
removing a prospective juror w/o explaining why.
The Preemptory challenge is of ______________ use for the ____________, and is an opportunity to remove jurors who have a perceived __________, but whose predisposition is not ___________ to warrant a _____________ for ______________.
limited; attorneys; bias; enough; Challenge for Cause
Prosecutors and Defense attorneys are allowed ______ to ______ preemptory challenges in _______ ______________ cases.
4; 6; non capital
Batson v. Kentucky (1986)
Prosecutor used preemptory challenge to excuse all 4 black member from jury.
Batson’s attorney filed motion objecting, saying removing jurors on basis of race limits representation of cross section of community.
Judge denied the motion, saying prosecutors may use the preemptory challenge as they see fit.
Prosecutor’s use of preemptory challenge on the basis of race violates the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause
Georgia v. McCollum (1992)
Batson rule applied to defense attorneys (for preemptory challenges)
J.E.B v. Alabama (1992)
Prohibits gender based juror removal.
2 Aspects of Court reforms
1) Jury Management
2) Trial Practices
Trial Practice Reforms (TPR) (not memorized)
1) Allowing Jurors to Take Notes
2) Allowing Jurors to Question Witnesses
3) Providing Written Copies of Instructions for Each Juror
4) Providing Jurors w/ Trial Notebook
Allowing Jurors to Take Notes (TPR): Today, ___________ are allowed to ___________ _________. Historically, they weren’t allowed to __________ __________, because 1) many ________ back then were __________, and 2) consequently, there was the fear that _________ who were _________ would dominate the ______________.
jurors; take notes; take notes; jurors; illiterate; jurors; illiterate; deliberations
Allowing Jurors to Question Witnesses (TPR): As __________ __________, it is a _________ member’s right to ______ the _____________ questions of importance to them. This law must be __________ applied. It also signals ___________ among the jury. If the __________ wish to ask a question, it must be submitted to the _____________. The _________ alongside the __________ must decide whether or not to ask this question. If deemed appropriate, the _________ will ask the witness the __________- submitted question.
fact finders; jury; ask; witness; carefully; engagement; jury; judge; judge; attorneys; judge; jury
Providing Written Copies of Instructions for Each Juror (TPR): Deliberations will probably be better ___________, if _______ members are given copies of _______ ______________ to follow along with the _______ instructions they hear in court.
facilitated; jury; jury instructions; orally
Providing Jurors With a Trial Notebook (TPR): Jurors now receive trial notebooks, complete with ________ ____________, a list of __________ and their _____________, copies of _____ documents, and ____________ admitted into ____________. These help jurors to conduct ____________ more _______________.
jury instructions; witnesses; photographs; key; exhibits; evidence; deliberations; efficiently
Jury Nullification
when a jury, based on it’s sense of justice, is not willing to convict a defendant who is unquestionably guilty under the law.
American Courts don’t appreciate _________ __________, because in the ________ ______________, they ask the jury to apply the law as it’s stated; Judges tell the jury they don’t have the discretion to go beyond the _________ of the _________. _______ ____________ may be removed from the trial prior to the verdict being reached if it’s uncovered that they committed _________ _______________.
jury nullification; jury instructions; letter; law; Jury members; jury nullification.
