Disadvantages of jury trial Flashcards
What are the 8 disadvantages of jury trial?
- Perverse decisions
- Secrecy
- Bias
- Media Influence
- Lack of Understanding
- Fraud trials
- Jury tampering
- High acquittal rates
In what 2 cases have a jury refused to convict in a clear cut cause which is an example of a perverse decision?
R v Randle and Pottle (1991)
R v Kronlid and others 1996
What happened in the case of R v Randle and Pottle 1991 which is an example of a perverse decision?
The defendants were charged with helping the spy George Blake to escape from prison however their prosecution did not occur until 25 years after the escape and so the jury acquitted them
What happened in the case of R v Kronlid and Others 1996 this is an example of a perverse decision?
the defendants admitted they had caused £1.5 million damage to a plane. However they pleaded not guilty on the basis that they were preventing the plane from being sent to Indonesia where it would have been used in attacks against the people of East Timor
Why is the secrecy of the jury room also a disadvantage?
This is because no reasons have to be given for the verdict so there is no way of knowing if the jury did understand the case and come to the decision for the right reasons
What 2 cases were on appeal and the HOL ruled that it could not inquire into discussions in a jury room?
R v Mizra and R v Connor and Rollock (2004)
What happened in the case of R v Mizra 2004 which is an example of the disadvantage of secrecy?
6 days after the verdict one juror wrote that the interpreter the defendant used to help in the trial was believed to be by the other jurors a ‘ploy’. The juror who wrote to the defendants counsel also said that she had been shouted down when she objected and reminded her fellow jurors of the judges directions
What happened in the case of Connor and Rollock 2004 which is an example of the disadvantage of secrecy?
A juror wrote to the Crown Court stating that many jurors thought they should convict both defendants of stabbing to ‘teach them a lesson’. This was 5 days after the verdict by before the sentence was passed. Her co-jurors had refused to listen and remarked that if they did consider which defendant was responsible they could take a week to consider verdicts in the case
In the cases of R v Mizra 2004 and Connor and Rollock 2004, what did the HOL decide using the law on these appeals from the jurors?
HOL held that s.8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 made it a contempt to disclose or obtain or solicit information about what had occurred in the jury room even for the purposes of appeal
What power makes it a contempt to disclose or obtain or solicit information what had occurred in the jury room even for the purposes of appeal?
s.8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981
What Artof the European Convention of Human Rights did the HOL say was compatible with s.8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981?
Art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to a fair trial)
What are the 2 reasons, briefly, when the courts will inquire into the conduct of the jury coming to their verdict?
1) Where there has been a complete repudiation of the oath taken by the jurors to try the case according to the evidence, using another method to make their decision
2) where extraneous material has been introduced into the jury room such as telephone calls
What is the best known example of when the courts inquired into the conduct of the jury in coming to their verdict where there had been a complete repudiation of the oath taken by the jurors?
R v Young Stephen 1995
What are examples of when courts can inquire into the conduct of jury where extraneous material has been introduced into the jury room?
- Telephone calls
- papers mistakenly included in the set of papers given by the court to the jury
- information from the internet
What is a case when courts inquired into the conduct of the jury as extraneous material had been introduced into the jury room?
R v Karakaya 2005
What happened in the case of R v Young 1995 which was an example of a car where the courts could inquire into the conduct of the jury in coming to their verdict when the jurors have used another method to make their decision?
During a murder case, the jury had to stay overnight in a hotel as they had not reached a verdict by the first day and held a séance using a fuji board to try to contact the dead victims, they returned with a guilty verdict
The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial
Why were the court able to inquire into what happened in the hotel in the case of R v Young 1995?
as it had occurred in a hotel and was not part of the jury room deliberations
What happened in the case of Karakaya 2005 which is an example of a case where the courts could inquire into the conduct of the jury due to extraneous material used in the jury room?
The defendant was accused of rape and a juror did an internet search at home and then brought this information into the jury room, convicting Karakaya.
The retrial was ordered and Karakaya was acquitted by the jurors in the second trial
In Cheryl Thomas’ research , Are Juries Fair? 2010 what % of jurors did she find admitted they had looked on the internet for information about cases they were trying?
12%
What are 2 disadvantages of using the internet in a case?
- the information may be prejudicial for the defendant
- they could do a search on a defendants name and find previous convictions which the jury should not know about
What is a factor of why those with certain criminal convictions are disqualified from sitting on a jury?
As some jurors may be biased against the police
What case is an example of where some jurors are racially prejudiced which is an example of the disadvantage of bias?
Sander V United Kingdom (2000)
