What Really Happens On Juries

http://apublicdefender.com/2008/01/04/re-direct-re-cross-jury/

You’re in on trial. The State has put on it’s main witness. Oops! They forgot to ask the most important question. You quietly mumble: “no cross!”, elated inside. Then a squeaky voice speaks up and asks that very question. Wait! Who said that?

If you’re in Florida, the answer very well might be: The Jury. After some “tweaks” in their jury system, Florida judges must now allow jurors to take notes and, in civil cases, ask questions of witness. In criminal trials, they will stick to their “old” practice of having jurors submit questions which the judge then decides whether they should be asked of the witness or not.

According to the article, these changes “follow a nationwide trend toward fuller participation by the citizen deciders of fact.” Huh? Where am I living? What nationwide trend? What other jurisdictions permit this?

It sounds cute, I know it does. Sensible, that does not make it. Take the really, really stupid hypothetical I opened this post with. That damn squeaky voiced juror just diluted the State’s burden of proof! What if it’s a leading question? Or calls for hearsay? Can you object? How does this work!? Permit me to say: Does Not Compute.

Read the rest…

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Blog Posts, Court Dynamics, Jury Duty, Jury Dynamics, Jury Instruction, Jury Verdicts, Law, Local Issues, Opinion, Reform, Trends, Trials. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.