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The judge reads the instructions to the jury. This is commonly referred to as the judge’s charge to the jury. In giving the instructions, the judge will state the issues in the case and define any terms or words that may not be familiar to the jurors.Sep 9, 2019
In most states and in the federal courts, only the judge determines the sentence to be imposed. (The main exception is that in most states juries impose sentence in cases where the death penalty is a possibility.)
The purpose of a jury charge is to “educate the decision-maker so that it will make an informed decision, not to tell the decision-make what decision to make“. An instructing judge “must set out in plan and understandable terms the law that the jury must apply when assessing the facts”.
The court reporter also produces a written transcript of the proceedings if either party appeals the case or requests a transcript. Court reporters don’t work only in the courtroom. They also record depositions in attorneys’ offices and some conferences in judges’ chambers.
The goal of the jury is to render an impartial decision based on the facts and the law provided by the judge. However, this study shows that juries that are all-White are severely unlikely to be impartial. With at least one minority on the jury, the jury can be as close to perfect impartiality as possible.
A plaintiff (Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court.
In most criminal cases, there is a single trial in which the jury determines whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. If the jury returns a verdict of guilty, the judge then determines the sentence. … If the jury decides that the defendant is guilty, there is a second trial to determine the sentence.
Decides the verdict by deciding the facts. Decides on issues of law during a trial.
Judges, not juries, almost always determine the punishment, even following jury trials. … In a very few situations, juries do take part in sentencing decisions—for example, in capital punishment cases juries are typically left with the decision as to whether death is appropriate.
Instructing the jury and charging the jury are synonymous terms. True. The purpose of instructing the jury is to summarize the law applicable to the case.
In any trial the judge is the ultimate decision maker and has the power to overturn a jury verdict if there is insufficient evidence to support that verdict or if the decision granted inadequate compensatory damages.
Defendant: a person who has been formally charged with committing a crime; the person accused of a crime. Defense Attorney: the lawyer who represents the defendant in legal proceedings.
The votes are tallied, and the responsibility for writing the opinion in the case is assigned to one of the justices; the most senior justice voting in the majority (but always the chief justice if he is in the majority) makes the assignment, and can assign the responsibility to him- or herself.
During oral arguments, each side has approximately 30 minutes to present its case, however, attorneys are not required to use the entire time. The petitioner argues first, then the respondent. If the petitioner reserves time for rebuttal, the petitioner speaks last.
The senior justice in the majority (that is, either the chief justice or, if he is not in the majority, the justice who has been on the court the longest) decides who will write the majority opinion; if there is a dissent — an view held by a minority of justices that a different decision should have been reached — then …
Russia has a civil law system that rarely uses juries for either criminal or civil trials. Indonesia has a civil law system that never uses juries.
Federal jurors are paid $50 a day. While the majority of jury trials last less than a week, jurors can receive up to $60 a day after serving 10 days on a trial. (Employees of the federal government are paid their regular salary in lieu of this fee.)
Juries are biased. Juries disregard the judge’s instructions or the law itself when reaching a verdict. Juries know too much about a case from media publicity to be able to render a fair judgment, or juries know too little and are unable to comprehend the issues in complex cases.
In criminal matters, it is the prosecuting party that files a case, and in civil cases, the party is known as the plaintiff.
Parties in a lawsuit are the plaintiff or petitioner bringing the case, or the defendant or respondent defending against one.
Guilt or innocence in a criminal trial requires a unanimous decision of the jury, except two states (Oregon and Louisiana) allow a conviction with 10 of 12 jurors. … Some potential jurors are challenged (peremptory challenge) because the attorney for one side or the other feels there is some hidden bias.
If you have a squeaky clean record and this was a first-time offense, the judge is much more likely to go easy on you. Sometimes first offenses are dismissed altogether.
When the evidence of all witnesses has been heard, the judge/sheriff (or jury) must make their decision. If you’re not at court when the outcome is decided, you can speak to the person who cited you as a witness to see if you can get information.
All jurors should deliberate and vote on each issue to be decided in the case. … In a criminal case, the unanimous agreement of all 12 jurors is required.
But fundamental difference between Jury System and judge system is : Jury System depends on a few randomly chosen citizens from ENTIRE population, and DIFFERENT Jurors are used for different cases; WHILE judge system uses same appointed individuals for almost all cases that would come.
In the American court system, criminal defendants are guaranteed the right to trial by a “jury of their peers”. In California, a pool of potential jurors is randomly selected from the local population of individuals eligible for jury duty. California law states a qualified juror as: a U.S. citizen.
The right to trial by jury in a criminal case resides in both Article III, Section 2 of the federal Constitution (“The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury”) and the Sixth Amendment (“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an …
There is no constitutional requirement that a person go to court for jury duty. But jury service is required by all state and federal statutory legal frameworks. … The jury trial became a tool of the American Revolution.
The jury must return its verdict to a judge in open court. The verdict must be unanimous. … If the jury cannot agree on a verdict on one or more counts, the court may declare a mistrial on those counts. The government may retry any defendant on any count on which the jury could not agree.
When there are insufficient jurors voting one way or the other to deliver either a guilty or not guilty verdict, the jury is known as a “hung jury” or it might be said that jurors are “deadlocked”. The judge may direct them to deliberate further, usually no more than once or twice.
noun. A judge instructing a jury wrongly. The basis for the appeal was that the original trial judge had misdirected the jury.
Motion for a Judgment of Acquittal. After the government closes its evidence or after the close of all the evidence, the court on the defendant’s motion must enter a judgment of acquittal of any offense for which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction. …