Both of these processes were in most cases brief and formulaic, but they opened up in the possibility, if some citizen wanted to take some matter up, of a contest before a jury court.

The U. S. Marshals Service wanted to allow Weaver the opportunity to show up in court on March 20, but the U. S. Attorneys Office sought a grand jury indictment on March 14 for Weaver's failure to appear.

Jury foreman and attorney Gregory Jackson later requested his own removal during jury deliberations, most likely because his fellow jurors wanted to replace him as foreman.

He told the jury that he funneled payoffs for clients who wanted Chicago city contracts through Vrdolyak, including some alleged schemes for which Vrdolyak has not been charged.

At the retrial the defence team again wanted to instruct the new jury in the use of Bayes's theorem ( though Prof. Donnelly had doubts about the practicality of the approach ).

He was the 11th person voted off, becoming the first member of the jury ; a point he always wanted to reach.

He wanted to guarantee the right to a jury trial in civil matters, and Mason saw in this a larger opportunity.

He was sentenced to death by an all-white jury ( his defence had wanted a half-white, half-Māori jury ) in an Auckland court, and executed in March 1842.

Although he gave a detailed confession, prosecutors refused to accept his plea of guilty because they wanted Evans sentenced to death, and under Alabama law, this is only allowed following a conviction by a jury.

Several studies have discovered that subjects who received no jury instructions comprehended the law better than subjects who received pattern instructions.

A study by the University of Glasgow showed that a jury of 12 people was ineffective because a few jurors ended up dominating the discussion, and that seven was a better number because more people feel comfortable speaking, and they have an easier time reaching a unanimous decision.

Condorcet's jury theorem proved that if the average member votes better than a roll of dice, then adding more members increases the number of majorities that can come to a correct vote ( however correctness is defined ).

However, as a result of having better relationships with people on the jury, and being seen as playing the game more strategically from the beginning, Jenna was voted to become the Sole Survivor in a landslide vote 6-1.

Arthur Rubinstein, who led the jury, declared Pollini the winner of the competition, saying: " that boy can play the piano better than any of us ".

Atkins alleged that the reason that she repudiated her grand jury testimony was that " Manson sent his followers to suggest that it might be better for me and my son if I decided not to testify against him ".

He was elected president of the fine-art jury for the 1867 Exposition ; however, his disappointment at being denied the better awards may have affected his health, for in August he became paralyzed.

A reviewer from Vue Weekly stated that " It sounds like a brand new band, but the jury is out on whether it ’ s better.

Attorney Dwight L. Schwab, in behalf of defendant Philip Weinstein, argued there is no evidence linking Weinstein to the conspiracy, but Judge Powell declared this is a matter for the jury to decide.

In his opening statement to a jury of eight women and four men, Bernard H. Sokol, attorney for the detectives, said that evidence would show that his clients were `` entirely innocent ''.

The jury foreman, Mrs. Olive Heideman, of rural Elsie, said that a ballot was not even taken until yesterday morning and that the first day of deliberation was spent in going over the evidence.

Some examples of reversible error would be erroneously instructing the jury on the law applicable to the case, permitting seriously improper argument by an attorney, admitting or excluding evidence improperly, acting outside the court's jurisdiction, injecting bias into the proceeding or appearing to do so, juror misconduct, etc.

Under the Alford plea, the defendant admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The rules of evidence are also developed based upon the system of objections of adversaries and on what basis it may tend to prejudice the trier of fact which may be the judge or the jury.

Most cases that go to trial are carefully prepared through a discovery process that aids in the review of evidence and testimony before it is presented to judge or jury.

The jury reached its verdict through evaluating common local knowledge, not necessarily through the presentation of evidence, a distinguishing factor from today's civil and criminal court systems.

The jury and judges also noted, in their words, that Biafra “ lacked credibility ” on the songwriting issue and found from evidence presented by both sides that the songwriting credits were due to the entire band, using a clause in the band's written partnership giving a small share of every Dead Kennedys song royalty directly to the band partnership.

A layman could bring a bill of indictment to the grand jury ; if the grand jury found there was sufficient evidence for a trial, that the act was a crime under law, and that the court had jurisdiction, it would return the indictment to the complainant.

" Jury instructions can also serve an important role in guiding the jury how to consider certain evidence.

These " peers of the accused " are responsible for listening to a dispute, evaluating the evidence presented, deciding on the facts, and making a decision in accordance with the rules of law and their jury instructions.

One issue that has been raised is the ability of a jury to fully understand statistical or scientific evidence.

It has been said that the expectation of jury members as to the explanatory power of scientific evidence has been raised by television in what is known as the CSI effect.

It was established in Bushel's Case that a judge cannot order the jury to convict, no matter how strong the evidence is.

When Soliah was eventually brought to trial years later, the evidence against her was not considered by prosecutors to be a " slam dunk ," although enough to convince a jury of her guilt.

Section 1 of the Criminal Procedure ( Insanity and Unfitness to Plead ) Act 1991 provides that a jury shall not return a special verdict that " the accused is not guilty by reason of insanity " except on the written or oral evidence of two or more registered medical practitioners of whom at least one has special experience in the field of mental disorder.

This may require the jury to decide between conflicting medical evidence which they are not necessarily equipped to do, but the law goes further and allows them to disagree with the experts if there are facts or surrounding circumstances which, in the opinion of the court, justify the jury in coming to that conclusion.

After Washington prosecutors showed " a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008 ," a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens ' possible perjury before Congress.

His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they had been told not to show.

Judge John T. Raulston accelerated the convening of the grand jury and "... all but instructed the grand jury to indict Scopes, despite the meager evidence against him and the widely reported stories questioning whether the willing defendant had ever taught evolution in the classroom.

Thornburg added in a lower voice but Andy overheard, `` They act more like a jury than an audience ''.

After a protracted, hysterical trial scene more notable for the frankness of its language than for dramatic credibility, the jury, to no one's surprise, leaves the legal question unresolved.

In cases where a judge rather than a jury decided issues of fact, an appellate court will apply an " abuse of discretion " standard of review.

A grand jury is so named because it has a greater number of jurors than a trial jury ( also known as a petit jury, from the French for small ).

On July 23, 1996, a North Carolina jury threw out a class action suit brought on behalf of more than 160, 000 onetime supporters who contributed as much as $ 7, 000 each to Bakker's coffers in the 1980s.

In one study, results gathered from 144 six-person juries indicated that when juries are in receipt of jury nullification information from the judge or defense attorney they are more likely to acquit a sympathetic defendant and judge a dangerous defendant more harshly than when such information is not present or when challenges are made to nullification arguments.

The use of jury trials evolved within common law systems rather than civil law systems, has had a profound impact on the nature of American civil procedure and criminal procedure rules, even in cases where a bench trial is actually contemplated in a particular case.

In general, the availability of a jury trial if properly demanded has given rise to a system where fact finding is concentrated in a single trial rather than multiple hearings, and where appellate review of trial court decisions is greatly limited.

Others contend that there never was a golden age of jury trials, but rather that juries in the early nineteenth century ( before the rise of plea bargaining ) were " unwitting and reflexive, generally wasteful of public resources and, because of the absence of trained professionals, little more than slow guilty pleas themselves ," and that the guilty-plea system that emerged in the latter half of the nineteenth century was a superior, more cost-effective method of achieving fair outcomes.

For example, in highly emotional cases, such as child rape, the jury may be tempted to convict based on personal feelings rather than on conviction beyond reasonable doubt.

In France, former attorney, then later minister of Justice Robert Badinter, remarked about jury trials in France that they were like " riding a ship into a storm ," because they are much less predictable than bench trials.

Indeed, in these countries, a jury trial is seen as a failing of some foreign legal system rather than an advantage ; this is despite the fact that both nations are common law countries.

Being a Common Law jurisdiction, Gibraltar retains jury trial in a similar manner to that found in England and Wales, the exception being that juries consist of nine lay people, rather than twelve.

New Zealand previously required jury verdicts to be passed unanimously, but since the passing of the Criminal Procedure Bill in 2009 the Juries Act 1981 has permitted verdicts to be passed by a majority of one less than the full jury ( that is an 11-1 or a 10-1 majority ) under certain circumstances.

In the United States, every person accused of a crime punishable by incarceration for more than six months has a constitutional right to a trial by jury, which arises in federal court from Article Three of the United States Constitution, which states in part, " The Trial of all Crimes ... shall be by Jury ; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed.

The Seventh Amendment provides: " In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

More pressure to plea bargain may be applied in weak cases ( where there is less certainty of both guilt and jury conviction ) than strong cases.

Plea bargaining is a significant part of the criminal justice system in the United States ; the vast majority ( roughly 90 %) of criminal cases in the United States are settled by plea bargain rather than by a jury trial.

Any crime punishable by more than six months imprisonment must have some means for a jury trial.