Stereotypes are everywhere in the world. Our ridged expectations of a community are sometimes all we know about that certain group. The students had a preconceived idea about the Harvard students being snobby and the Law students thought the students would not take the task seriously. This chapter really hit on many stereotypes throughout the chapter and how powerful it can be when stereotypes are broken. I would never think to take my class on a field trip to a courthouse to participate in a mock trial.…
The Jury takes an oath that it will listen to all of the evidence during the trial and without bias will examine the evidence and determine if there is sufficient evidence that O.J. Simpson had committed the crimes…
and he was seething with anger having to even provide this vindication to essentially clear two officer’s names. The eighth principle is the right of the defendant to be brought before a court. This was proven throughout the documentary; Avery and Dassey’s rights to a public trial by jury were upheld. This is corresponded with our seventh amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which is the right of the accused to a trial by jury, these are due process rights.…
In addition, a typical person generally has a lot of sympathy for other individuals. If they feel sorrowful for the defendant they are likely to give them the benefit of the doubt. In a bench trial, a professional judge with years of experience has no sympathy for an ordinary citizen no matter the circumstances. The jurors are human and haven’t trained as near as much as a trained judge. If a person chooses the jury trial…
A grand jury is required by the federal government and about one third of states. It is a group of citizens who are tasked with determining if probable cause exists, this is their purpose. The grand jury only hears evidence from the prosecutor. Once the grand jury hasdetermined probable cause does indeed existm it will issue and indictment, which becomes the formal charge against the defendant.…
The main concept of a voir dire is to determine whether a jury can be “fair, impartial arbiters of fact”. Potential jurors usually are selected from voter registration records for what is commonly referred to as jury duty. In the U.S., they must be from the same jurisdiction as the defendant. After a pool of potential jurors is selected, attorneys for both sides either suggest questions for the judge to ask, or they ask questions themselves of the jurors. The attorneys for both sides have a limited amount of “peremptory challenges,” with which they can bypass the judge and dismiss possible jurors for any reason.…
Although some find this an unreasonable task to ask of anyone, these people do not want to take the time to learn about community news and issues. Allowing oneself to be involved in the community gains friends, knowledge, and joy. Jury duty should be viewed as another opportunity to experience these aspects of life and not as a…
There is cases that are presented that are not necessarily justifiable to what the law says its right and wrong and there can be many factors that play into why a certain individual in a special case may not be guilty even though there is clear evidence that the crime was committed. It gives the jury a chance to plug in the factors of who, what, where, when and why and to treat each case as its own. Having the responsibility to use your own judgment holds great potential in a jury system as well as having a wide variety of people from different backgrounds leads to having a wide variety of opinions in a…
Prior to the mock jury activity in class, I did not know or understand much about the judicial or trial process. In this paper, I will just summarize the trial, my thoughts on the jury process and if I think justice is achieved through these systems. I have been in a court situation before where I have needed to testify, so I understand a bit more about the trial system than someone who hasn’t experienced it. The mock trial was a very engaging and helpful activity where I was able to more fully understand what happens in a trial. I was able to put myself in the juror’s shoes and to feel how tough of a decision it is because someone’s life is in your hands.…
On November 22, 2016, I sat in courtroom 507 of the Fresno County Superior Court, under the Honorable Judge Timothy Kams. Judge Kams was conducting a jury selection for a jury trial dealing with a felony DUI case. During the jury selection, I witnessed a Venire. A venire or jury pool, is a master list or jury list, from which a petit panel is selected, typically is based on names drawn from voter registration lists or lists of licensed drivers over eighteen years of age (Lippmann, 2014, p.518). I also witnessed a Voir Dire.…
“May it please the court, your honor, opposing council, members of the jury - an impossible burden means an impossible conviction,” Sophomore Lora Randa said to a crowd of people gathered in a courtroom in Eau Claire on Feb. 11. Tension and competition filled the room as she continued to tell the story of an innocent girl being accused of first degree reckless homicide. Randa is a dedicated member of the school’s Mock Trial team and is the attorney that closes the case for the defence.…
In a criminal trial, a jury is a group usually comprised of twelve randomly chosen adults, whose role is to hear evidence, apply the law as directed by the judge, and then collectively decide if the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the crime they have been accused of, based only on the facts given. Juries have played a significant role in Australia’s justice system for quite some time, though in more recent years the role of juries has been reduced. In 2011, the NSW government changed the law so that accused persons could apply for judge alone trials and, with consent from the Director of Public, avoid juries entirely (Whitbourn 2013). Currently there is much debate as to whether or not the jury system should be scrapped entirely for criminal trials in NSW.…
A criminal trial in the United states includes the judge, prosecutors, defense attorneys and most importantly a…
You can, however, say that some of the jury would not be paying attention which could impact the trial but, a jury is made up of more than a couple of people. It is possible that a small portion of the jury would be listening to come up with a decision. This decision would either be the majority of the votes or the same decision would be chosen by people who were not paying attention to agree with the vast majority (Document D, Cartoon1). To continue, another reason for being in favor of jury systems is it prevents corruptions. In bench trials anyone can bribe the judge in order for them to win the case, but in jury trials you will not know who the people are until you show up in court.…
1a. The court system of England and Wales as we know today has emerged through the evolution of society and culturization. A demonstration of how drastically the system has changed, is that since the nineteenth century, there were particular courts for equity and common law. Forward to present day, the structure of higher courts were set by the ‘Supreme Court of Judicature Acts 1873 and 1875. In detail, the earliest courts are known as magistrate courts, with the newest court forged in 2009, known as the Supreme Court.…