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.