Role of juries Flashcards
main legislation
Jury Act 1977 (NSW)
what is a jury
group of 12 ordinary citizens, who are chosen to hear all evidence in a criminal trial and make a verdict based on the evidence provided. It is a legal obligation. Represents a cross-section of society
case - morgan
R v Morgan (1996)
used provocation defence, the jury acquitted him, proving ethical standards
Jury amendment Act 2004
attempt to ensure impartiality, meeting societies needs, verdict is based ONLY on the evidence in court,
punishment against the Jury Amendment Act 2004
2 years imprisonment, showing the enforceability of the law
what happens in the event of jury misconduct
mistrial, not resource efficient, expensive, not fair for the accused/victim. This upholds the rule of law
case - skaf
R v Skaf (2005), altered the way jury directions were given, perpetrated gang rapes, jury visited the crime scene, 55 years imprisonment
article - jury misconduct
“Jury misconduct leads to mistrials, fines and huge emotional costs”, ABC, Oct 2024
anonymity of jury
S.37 of the Jury Act 1977 (NSW)
offence of jury misconduct
S.68c of the Jury Act 1977 (NSW)
case - burrell
R v Burrell (2005)
- hung jury (cannot come to a verdict), need for new trial - resource inefficiency , no justice for any parties
law reform -2006
Jury Amendment (Majority Verdicts) Act 2006 (NSW)
- allowed for majority verdict (11-1, or 10-1)
Eg. R v Xie (2017) - convicted with a majority verdict
case - Hughes
DPP v Hughes (2014)
- found guilty of historical sex offences when he was on the TV show “hey dad”, he appealed and lost the appeal
Judge-alone trial
for fairness due to public outcry and attention
case - Gittany
R v Gittany (2014)
article - Gittany
“Simon Gittany and the case for judge-alone trials”, ABC, Nov 2013
15 members for jury
saves the need for retrials, resource efficient, meets societies needs, justice for both sides
article - charlise
“Charlise Mutten trial: Justin Stein found guilty of murdering partners nine-year-old daughter”, The Guardian June 2024
jurys response to steins defence
they rejected his version of events, he admitted to dumping the body, but claimed Kallista shot Charlise and placed her corpse in a barrel on the back of his ute without his knowledge
final jury decision
jury debated for 2 weeks, then delivered a unanimous verdict of guilt in which stein was formally convicted in the SC
how many jury were there in steins trial
12 person jury
