Essays on Juror

a. Prior to 1972, the death penalty legal procedure varied from one state to the other. However, in Furnam v. Georgia, a Supreme Court case which was decided in 1972, the constitutionality of the death penalty was addressed. In this case, the Supreme Court decided that the death penalty was imposed b as a result of an arbitrary and discriminatory process (Lynch and Haney 337). In this case, the defendants claimed that the imposition of the death penalty represented a violation of their rights under the 8th and the 14th Amendment (Dunn). Furman, the main defendant, was charged of ...

Part A. Answer the following questions based on the literature:

PTP (Pretrial publicity) creates a set of problems that forensic social/cognitive/experimental psychologists are uniquely qualified to address. What are some of these problems? Hint: they are psychological (social/cognitive) and legal (procedural/substantive). Thus, begin by addressing: why we are concerned with PTP at all? What are the alleged effects and what does the social science research indicate regarding these effects (be specific in citing literature)? One of the problems, caused by Pre-Trial Publicity is the cognitive one. This means that juries get the information about the case under some circumstances, identified by the pre-trial mass media articles, which they ...

Article #

Ruva, C., McEvoy, C. & Becker Bryant, J. (2007). Effects of Pre-Trial Publicity and Jury Deliberation on Juror Bias and Source Memory Errors Applied Cognitive Psychology 21, 45-67. Is the decision of the jury as objective as it should be? In their article, titled “Effects of Pre-Trial Publicity and Jury Deliberation on Juror Bias and Source Memory Errors”, authors Ruva, Mc Evoy & Bryant, discuss the issue of jury impartiality by analyzing the degree to which the access to media information affect the decisions of the jury member and cause them to interpret the evidence either in favor or against the ...

In this July 2013 trial, George Zimmerman stood accused of the second-degree murder of teenager Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman had shot Martin in February 2012 after a confrontation between the two in Sanford, Florida. From the beginning, Zimmerman defense team did not deny that he had shot Martin but rather that he shot Martin in self-defense (Linder, 2014). Claiming self-defense is one of the fundamental principles of exculpation in criminal law. The theory underlying exculpation holds that in some situations although a person has otherwise acted criminally, their actions are justified and therefore should not be subject to punishment. In ...

I have rarely heard of unethical conduct by a juror, but I found a recent article on ctpost dated May 25, 2016, entitled “Juror dismissed after taking court exhibit” by Daniel Tepfer. In Bridgeport, Louisiana, a jury had convicted Amelia Rhodes of “possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, reckless driving and using a motor vehicle without the owner’s permission”. The jury was set to determine the defendant’s guilt on another charge a couple days later. However, prior to determining the guilt or innocence of the defendant, the jury foreman was dismissed from the jury after ...

12 Angry Men is a film about a jury consisted of twelve men all of whom have their own system of beliefs which is hard to change. They are members of the community and are supposed to reach a verdict because they are jurymen. The legal system has flaws which is why the jurors need to decide about the guilt of the defendant. The defendant is an eighteen-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed and killed his father although there is reasonable doubt that he did not commit this crime. The juror Number Three is the man who looks for answers ...

Introduction

This paper discusses the roles of specific players within the criminal justice system, namely judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys including how these roles sometimes intermingle with reference to given fact patterns.

The Role of the Prosecutor

Should Joe Justice want to get the deal done with Jim Lawbreaker, some of the options available for him including entering into a plea agreement or arrangement and studying the arresting or investigating police report to ascertain details of the crime and its magnitude. Yes, Joe Justice has enough evidence to take against Stick Martin to grand jury. According to Gaines and Miller (2012), a prosecutor has a ...

12 Angry Men is a play written by Reginald Rose which deals with various topics describing human nature. People have to deal with prejudice, misconceptions and intuition by being devoted and taking time to find the truth. Serious decision cannot be brought quickly because forming a strong opinion about anything takes time and effort. There is much to learn from this play because it makes people question the possibility of human beings to grasp the truth. Prejudice gets in the way of truth, distorts a person’s mind and makes them think in a way which is biased. It ...

The film Runaway Jury presented ethical dilemmas among the main characters Dustin Hoffman (Wendall Rohr), Gene Hackman (Rankin Fitch) and John Cusack (Nick Easter). In the movie Celeste Wood sought the help of Wendall Rohr, a lawyer to represent her and file a case against Vicksburg Firearms, a gun manufacturing company, for the death of her husband Jacob Wood, who was one of the victims in the massacre that took place in a brokerage office. Gun manufacturer and owner Garland Jankle, played by Stanley Anderson hired the services of a brilliant jury consultant Rankin Fitch to help him win ...

Twelve Angry Men is a 1957 drama in which twelve jurors decide the faith of a boy who is on trial in court for alleged murder of his own father. The film presents a picture of the decision-making process based on the concept of reasonable doubt, which, when present, does not allow the jury to proclaim the defendant guilty. Jury members have no names and go by numbers, and the audience is presented with their reasoning and thought process through their monologues and dialogues. Although this is quite an explicit way to convey what a character’s position is, ...

The study sought to establish how the race of the defendant and the type crime that the individual commits affects the decisions that jurors make (Gordon et al., 191). The research used 56 participants that focused on making the decisions on jail terms regarding both white and black hypothetical criminals that had committed blue-collar and white-collar offenses. The hypothesis of the study is: Do the race of the defendant and the type of crime affect juror decisions (Gordon et al., 192). There were two independent variables in the study. According to the thesis, the investigation was on the impacts ...

“The Play has been used to teach students about group behavior and the role of individual influence in group settings. What does the play have to offer as a representation of group behavior and the influence that individuals can have in group settings? Connect this idea to the Play and other life scenarios.”

The Play as a representation of Group behavior

Groups or teams are usually characterized by individuals with different characteristics, behavior and cultural backgrounds. The existence of these characteristics as well as behaviors means that people tend to think differently, a scenario that has a significant impact on group decision-making process. In the play, “Twelve ...

Introduction

In the American legal system, the rights afforded to a defendant who has been accused of a crime are fundamental and of paramount constitutional concern. The Framers were cognizant of the potential for government abuse and ensured that a criminal defendant’s rights were protected. The Sixth Amendment provides that in criminal proceedings, “the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury” (U.S. Const. amend. VI). Thus, the Sixth Amendment safeguards the criminal defendant’s right to a speedy trial and guarantees that defendant is entitled to a trial by a jury ...

Snyder v. Louisiana (2008) The Supreme Court case Snyder v. Louisiana concerned the level of scrutiny to apply to the prosecutor’s given reason for using peremptory strikes to strike certain members from the prospective jury pool. The petitioner bringing the challenge, a black male, was charged with first-degree murder in the state of Louisiana (Snyder v. Louisiana 474). The voir dire process of jury selection began by initially screening out jurors who did not qualify to serve or those that were unable to serve due to extreme hardship (Snyder v. Louisiana 475). In the next phase of jury ...

I. Introduction Under the Sixth Amendment, one of the fundamental rights that a person accused of a crime holds is the right to a “public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district” where the crime was committed. Subsequent Supreme Court jurisprudence has interpreted the Sixth Amendment’s impartial jury provision to mean a jury composed of unbiased individuals in regards to how the perceive the defendant. While an important of consideration as to whether a juror is biased has focused on issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and national origin. An equally important consideration is whether a ...

Letter of Transmittal3

Executive Summary.4 Introduction..5

The Issues.5

The Solution.7 Conclusion9 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Pace County Courthouse Executive Committee 1010 First, Avenue

Pace City, CA, 12346

Dear Judge Pace, As per your request dated December 1, 2015, please find attached the analysis and report of “bring your own device” (BYOD) practices and what options the courthouse has for addressing BYOD. As you will find, BYOD practices are a common aspect of the modern legal industry that is finding growing support in courthouse across the country. There are a number of benefits in allowing BYOD for courthouse staff and visitors, especially the attorneys. Since we understand that the Executive ...

As depicted in the trial of O.J Simpson, there is a number of political, racial, social and psychological personality or demographic factors that may influence the selection, composition and possible elimination of members of a jury. Normally, trial judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors and plaintiff’s lawyer will want to ensure that jurors are both impartial and fair and that there are minimal chances of conflicts of interest, bias and the possibility of a jury constitution unfairly influencing or shaping the outcome of a case. In this week’s discussion, I will analyze the factors that might include or eliminate ...

12 angry men 12 angry men is a well known movie that was directed by Sidney Lumet and released in 1957. The movie describes the process of jury and explores how a consensus is reached irrespective of difference in opinions of jury members. The movie is entertaining, educating and enlightens audiences about several important aspect of our social as well as judicial processes. This paper intends to discuss the movie and examines how group effort assisted jury in finding a prudent decision.

The story revolves around twelve men who are assigned a task to find the truth of an alleged crime. ...

Following the American Psychologists Association’s Guidelines

The case in question, that of the Carr Brothers, involved two siblings Reginald and Jonathan, with a long history of criminal activities having killed and sexually abused five young men and women. A sixth woman, who survived a gunshot wound to her head, and walked a mile in the snow to seek help. She succumbed to her wound later, and before death gave her evidence against the brothers.

The Wichita Court sentenced them to death. According to the sixth amendment to the US Constitution, there must be -“ In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public ...

A pretrial motion is a meeting that occurs between the accused person, the plaintiff, the layers and the judge. The pretrial motions are conducted after the confirmation that a case has to proceed to trial (Berry, 1989) .Pre trial motions deal with issues that affect will affect the outcome of a case. Some of the issues are;

Avenue change-Parties to a criminal case can request for avenue change. Factors such as publicity and security of an accused person may influence the court to order for the change of a trial location.

Evidence exclusion-Any party to a case can request a court to exclude evidence that they ...

12 Angry Men 12 Angry Men

Summary of the Film

The film 12 Angry Men, which was released in 1957 by Orion-Nova Production, takes a peek into a jury deliberation process of a murder case that involves an 18-year old boy who is charged with the stabbing of his father. The film begins with the end of the 6-day hearing of the case with the judge instructing an all-men jury just before they exit the court and enter into the deliberation room. The instructions of the judge include the following: the jury must make a unanimous vote of guilty, otherwise, a guilty verdict will not stand; a guilty ...

12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men, made in the year 1957 is a well acclaimed American drama giving new ideas about the workings of Jury and the psychology of jury members. Due to some constrictions imposed by American Judicial system it becomes an easier said than done task for Jury members to make a decision, their one decision can make a big effect if all the pros and cons are not probed of a case. The film has many salient features which inspired other film makers from across the world to make several movies and plays taking this idea. Several methods of consent ...

“12 Angry Men” is an excellent drama that describes the prudent judicial process and legal acumen of jurists. The drama is considered significant in educating law students about the judicial process. The filmmaker educates about different methods of reaching a wise decision by consensus building. This paper intends to discuss the film, “12 Angry Men” along with analyzing the judicial process that is involved in the drama. The drama opens with a scene where a Judge assigns a responsibility to find the truth to a jury of twelve members. Judge addresses jury and says “it now becomes your duty to try to separate ...

Responses 1

The ethnic representation in juries may have profound effects on the outcome. The continued underrepresenting of the people of color in juries undermines both the credibility and reliability of the case at hand, and the whole justice system (“Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection: A Continuing Legacy,” 2014). From a historical point of view, America has had many cases of racial discrimination within and outside the criminal justice system. As a result, if the juries do not have ethnic representation, the accused rights of fair trial may be compromised especially if the jury has no racial balance. Additionally, empathy plays a critical ...

Type of False Confession (1)

With regards to the false confession applied in this particular case, it is reasonable to conclude on the fact that voluntary false and internalized confessions have been perpetrated by the alleged delinquent. The aforementioned conclusion bases on the analysis of the fact, with a particular focal point placed on the internal decision of the questioned person. The employees of the penitentiary institution did not exercise excessive physical or mental pressure over him. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the decision to deliver false confession was dictated by the internal motives on the first two suspects (Douglas Firemnon and the ...

Does the Gender and Race of a Victim Influence Perception of the Jurors

Abstract The study examines the influence of gender and race to juror perception when it comes to case decisions. In the experiment, a mock proceeding was conducted with the subjects sitting as jurors to judged the male and a female white, Black and Hispanic victim of sexual harassment. The objective of the experiment is to determine whether the decisions of the jurors are influenced by gender and race. The jurors in relation to the victim’s gander and race structured the proposed experiment to illustrate the varying responses in an actual Court proceeding. The study will be supported by reviewed ...

Introduction

Human behavior can sometimes be understood from varied perspectives. 12 Angry Men and The Invisible War are films that provide a broad converse over which a number of social issues can be understood. Social life in every society comes with its own challenges with respect to the manner in which norms and regulations are established. Both of the movies have a basis from different set ups; hence, their understanding can only be understood from the context where they are set up. Although the films are drawn from different set ups, aspects of human behavior analysis can still be ensured. The film, ...

Introduction

Social injustices such as prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, and aggression manifest themselves in almost all communities in the world. The injustices are often very complicated in places inhabited by multiethnic and multiracial communities. Although, racial prejudice and discrimination has been largely minimized, there still exist some social injustices based on other factors such as gender, age, ethnicity, nationality among other divisive lines. Many times these incidents can be explained using social psychology theories. Regina Rose’s 1957 film Twelve Angry Men perfectly captures issues about prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, and aggression through the eyes of a jury, in a homicide trial. The theme ...

The juror’s professions and backgrounds influenced their decisions to great extent. One of the jurors (number three) is a businessman who is at odds from his own son. Since it is a murder trial of a teenager, juror number three is quite confident that the boy is guilty. His relationship to his son seems to have an influence on his attitude to this case and believes that all teenagers from ghetto neighborhoods are criminals. His relationship to his son makes him to approach the case without objectivity. Juror number seven is a salesman that is interested in watching baseball and wants the ...

COMPLEX SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY: HOW DO JURORS MAKE DECISIONS?

Joel Cooper, Elizabeth A. Bennett & Holley L. Sukel The article posed the question as to whether “regular” citizens sitting on juries are capable of understanding complex scientific data and how such complex data is processed and whether it is translated into a sound and rational verdict. 2) The methodology used Of the fifty-four paid participants, forty participants, seventy-four (75%) percent, were selected from a local community college in the Princeton, New Jersey area while fourteen (14) participants, twenty-five (25%) percent, were from a local retirement community. Interestingly, one-hundred (100%) percent of the participants considered themselves upper-middle-lower middle class which ...

The play Twelve Angry Men is a prime example of communication in a group. Each of the characters of this twelve member jury represents a specific functional role within the group. These are twelve strangers, brought together for a week long murder trial. The entire play takes place in the deliberation room on a hot afternoon. Tempers are short as is patience for many of the jurors. This creates an agitation in the communication of the group as they deliberate the fate of the defendant.

Foreman, acts as the “procedure developer” and “evaluator” of the jury according to our text.

He is fair and takes the responsibility of deciding guilt seriously. He handles the task of taking the votes ...

A Case Law Brief

391 U.S. 510 (1968) I. Facts On April 29, 1959, a police patrol car that has stopped for a red light was approached by a woman. The woman complained to the officers that the petitioner, Witherspoon, had assaulted her outside of a nearby tavern. The woman also informed the officers that Witherspoon was armed. Witherspoon, who had observed the woman talking to the police, ran into an adjacent parking lot and hid in a parked truck. Following up on the woman’s complaint, the police pursued Witherspoon into the parking lot. When one of the officers happened unto Witherspoon hiding in a truck, ...

Introduction

In law enforcement, profiling is a technique used to develop a profile of unknown criminal offenders using available information from crimes committed. Criminal profiling seeks to identify an offender through analysis of the offense committed, the manner it was committed and physical evidence from the scene of offense. Through the use of information collected, psychological characteristics of offenders may also be developed. Profiling is mainly employed in offender profiling. However, since profiling involves the analysis of several aspects of an individual including behavior, it is used in other ways other than criminal profiling. Profiling is used in the American judicial process, ...

The Verdict

As a juror on this case, there is an abundance of information, testimony and evidence to take into account. I would like to begin this case analysis by first stating my verdict and then describing why. Based on the Prosecution’s testimony, I find the Defendant/suspect of the bank robbery of Small Town Bank guilty beyond reasonable doubt. My decision was formed based on the circumstances of the crime and pursuit, forensic findings, and what evidence was found useful when reaching the guilty verdict.

Circumstances of the Crime

I do believe that the suspect is the bank robber due to numerous and varying circumstances. ...

Section I. Circle the letter of the most appropriate answer. 1. In Griswold v. Connecticut the Supreme Court found that Connecticut’s statute, which banned contraceptives, violated a freedom expressly protected by which of the first ten amendments of the Constitution of the United States: a. The First Amendment. b. The Fifth Amendment. c. The Fourth Amendment. d. None of the above. 2. “Substantive due process” refers to those procedures: a. that are expressly enumerated within the four corners of the United States Constitution. b. that are not expressly enumerated by the ...

Trial vs. Plea Bargaining

Trial The oldest and most well-known form of dispute resolution in criminal cases is the jury trial (Kadri, 2005). Certainly, the jury trial is the fundamental dispute resolution mechanism of the American adversarial legal system. In fact, the core principle of the criminal justice system holds that disputes are most effectively resolved when the parties in contention are made responsible for: (1) investigating and gathering their own evidence and (2) presenting their own arguments to a neutral and passive lay decision-maker who decides which party presented the most convincing argument (Kadri, 2005). Furthermore, the entire process is subject to ...

Book Review of “The Jury: Trial and Error in the American Courtroom”

The book of Adler reveals that the American jury system is essential element of the criminal justice system, but criticized the incompetency of some members of the jury. In fact, there are many instances when the jurors have clearly performed unsatisfactorily in arriving at important decisions which lack valid reasons. In most cases, the jury makes a decision for its own beneficial gain. Adler condemns the jurors for making tainted decisions, but he does not make criticisms directly on the actual performance of the jury, but considered some external factors that are beyond the control of the jurors, which do ...

Main steps to the voir dire process

The voir dire process takes place in different phases with each phase aimed at attaining a given aim. The first phase of this process entails the soliciting of information aimed at unravelling information in the juror’s mind-set. In this phases, there are different skills that are needed to enhance the provision of information by the juror such as the use of open-ended questions and being attentive. The second step is initiating ample relationships with the juror. This step is essential because it prompts the juror’s to offer the requisite and candid information needed from them (Broome, 2012). Creating ...

Psychology

Answer to Question

A. Variables 1. IV #1: Ordinary manipulated between

Levels: Robbery

Forgery 2. IV #2: Attractive manipulated between

Levels: Robbery

Forgery 3. DV: the mean number of sentencing months determined using arithmetic test

B. Hypotheses

1. Main effects Ordinary – There is a significant effect for attractiveness perception when it comes to the length of sentencing imposed on ordinary looking male than the more attractive male. Attractive – The nature of offence may have a significant. Considering the interaction (see below) there is a difference on the length of sentencing between robbery and forgery. Attractive male is likely to be sentenced for a longer ...

Abramson, J. B. (1994). We, the Jury: The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy: with a New Preface. Harvard University Press. Jury came up in 1994 at a period of fast growing cynicism concerning jury justice. There was exclusive concern allover concerning racism, which appeared as a critical impartiality obstacle. There were always concerns on white men being prosecuted of racially abusing African-Americans. However, there was misrepresentation of Africans in the jury since there were no Africans serving in the jury. This brought in extensive disagreements between whites and African-Americans who always viewed themselves as segregated in proper operations of ...

My Responsibility To America Essay

United States is a democratic country which, as Abraham Lincoln puts, has "government of the people, by the people, for the people". To simplify, in a democratic nation, it is the citizens who form and run the government and the government takes actions listening to the voice of the citizens. A citizen is defined as an official member of a country. In USA, anyone born in the country gets citizenship by birth. Immigrants also become citizens of USA through naturalization. But one doesn't become a true American and citizen of a country just by acquiring citizenship. In order to be a true citizen of one's ...

R. v. Williams

R. v. Williams In the case of R v Williams, the accused was an aboriginal who pleaded not guilty to a robbery charge filed against him and elected a trial by judge and jury. During the initial trial, the trial judge authorized the asking of questions to the potential jurors. However, the Crown filed for a mistrial on the ground of procedural errors and giving too much publicity and exposure on the jury selection process. At the second trial, the judge who heard the motion of the accused issued an unfavourable decision against him to challenge the jurors ...

The right against self incrimination is an international human right that is guaranteed to an accused. This right is always embodied in the criminal procedure that is adopted by various nations when prosecuting criminal cases. The right against self incrimination includes the right of an accused not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess his guilt to a crime of which he is being accused of. Every juror must, as compliance to the procedural due process, respect this right accorded to an accused as a basic human right enshrined in the international bill of rights. Thus, a juror cannot ...

Sections on constructive/reconstructive processing and the eyewitness testimony have empowered me with various concepts. From the ideas spelt by the reconstructive memory theory, I have developed a clear understanding of the reliability of the eyewitness testimony in arriving at decisions. I have learnt that recall is essentially dependent on personal interpretation that is defined by our learnt or cultural aspects and values and the way we interpret situation. Particularly, the theory argues that people archive information on the way that appear logical to them and in the future, they make deductions by making reference to the stored information (Nicholas 23). ...

Introduction

Rhetoric in its wider sense, deals with persuasion and the various modes of persuasion which is kind of factual demonstration. Rhetoric is the identification of the means and ends of achieving effective persuasion, be it at now or in the future. Human condition makes its mind to perceive demonstrations as more convincing and persuasive. Therefore, speech helps with delivery of information by employing words, phrases and rhetoric questions. The conceptual arguments used in speech, determine the general logical dialect in demonstration thereby helping to bring out persuasion. It is more important that any speaker should know that whether ...

The story of the movie ‘12 Angry Men’ is about a boy who is in trial for the charge of murdering his father. After six days of prosecution, the jury is to decide the final verdict. To achieve that, twelve jurors need to arrive at a unanimous decision. If they found the convict to be guilty then the convict was supposed to be awarded the death sentence. All the jurors were of the opinion that the boy was guilty except juror #8. The movie focuses on the persuasion and analytical skill of juror #8 who through his logical and polite approach ...

Orienthal James Simpson was a well-known celebrity in North America. He was a football player who upon retirement from the National Football League turned to acting. His ex -wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman were found brutally murdered outside Nicole’s residence on June 12, 1994. The police had a thorough scan of the crime scene in search of evidence. Crucial DNA evidence showing that Simpson was involved in the murder was found (Dershowitz, 1997). OJ Simpson’s trial was named “the trial of the century” because it had become the most publicized case of all time in the ...

US vs. Jeremy Smith: My observations

The case of US vs. Jeremy Smith involved the legal framework that is enforced to control drugs and narcotics in the US. The defendant, Jeremy Smith had been arrested by the police in the D.C after suspicion of being in possession of drugs and weapons. The police raided the house of the defendant and found samples of cocaine, marijuana and some guns. According to the US laws, Jeremy was arraigned in court for a trial on 11 th April 2013. The case was set to start at 9.30. As the norm, the judge had to explain to the jurors ...

Major Issues in the Stella Liebeck’s Case and in the Successive Incidents

The major issue in the cases presented against McDonald’s is that customers suffered bodily and psychological harm from consuming their foodstuffs. For instance, in Stella Liebeck’s case she accuses McDonald’s of “gross negligence”, and selling “unreasonably dangerous” coffee that was “defectively manufactured”. Stella stayed in hospital for eight days and spent three weeks recuperating after suffering third-degree burns from a coffee cup bought from McDonald’s. Through her lawyer, Reed Morgan, Stella wanted to be compensated $ 100,000 for medical expenses and McDonald’s fined triple that amount in punitive damages. As the case went on trial, ...

Introduction

The Jury has the power to exercise nullification while conducting jury duties. This power is accorded as a matter of practice and in common law, and not necessarily under legislation. Jury nullification occurs when the fact finding is clear of the defendant’s guilt, but the jury relying on its own understanding of fairness and justice, decides to acquit. There has been on going debate as to whether the judges should inform the jury of their nullification ability or not. This paper explores the position that the jury should not be informed of their nullification powers (Bellin, 2010).

Background

The nullification ...

In the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, a group of jurors is surprised to discover that one juror does not immediately wish to convict a young man accused of murdering his father. The lone dissenting juror pleads and argues with the other jurors over the course of their deliberations, using a variety of persuasive techniques to instill some sense of doubt about the guilt of the accused. As other jurors began to have their own doubts, they join in and provide both rational and emotional appeals to persuade the remaining jurors to change their minds. The interactions between the jurors reveal that ...

In the article Can Jury Trial Survive Google?, the author Caren Myers Morrison (2011) describes a budding problem in the American jury system and provides recommendations to address these problems. According to Morrison (2011), the jurors’ misuse of technology is negatively affecting their impartiality, which is supposed to ensure the fairness of trials. Because of the accessibility of information via the Internet and because of the ease of communication that technology affords, more and more jurors are engaging in behaviors that compromise their impartiality towards the cases that they’re hearing. In particular, Morrison (2011) identifies four ways ...

Section A – Member Roles

One very particular juror in 12 Angry Men is the juror no. 8. As the author of the movie described him, he is a quiet man, who sees all sides of every question and always seeks truth (Rose, ). In the body of the jury, this juror no. 8 portrays the role of convincing the rest of the 11 members to truly look at the case before making a final decision on whether the boy – who is sent to the court for being accused of a crime – is guilty or not. Throughout the play, he continually presented various considerations for every given testimony ...

Jury Trial Analysis

A jury trial is a legal proceeding whereby a case is presented to a jury to make decisions and findings of fact and reach a verdict which is later applied by a judge. A jury is a group of people sworn in to hear, judge, and give a verdict on a given case. Jury trials are regularly used in serious criminal cases. The work of a jury is to scrutinize the evidence provided in the courtroom and agree on whether beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime in question. Jury trials are mainly used in serious criminal cases. Their work is to find the facts on ...

The play, 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose, is an attention-grabbing play that exhibits the American judicial system in an organized way. The play is about a teenager who is being trialed for committing the murder of his own father, and the jury, consisting of 12 men, is seated in a room to discuss and decide his fate. Moreover, the jury comes to a standstill when juror number 8 declines to choose ‘guilty’ for the convict unlike the others. However justice served in the end when he is able to convince the other jurors and is able to prove that the boy ...

Introduction

The research that was conducted was aimed at checking the effect of defendant facial expression on mock juror decision-making especially the power of remorse. Researchers had an interest in the facial expression of the defendant and this led them to experimentally manipulate the exhibit of remorse and anger in the defendant pictures so that they could assess the weight that could lead to decision making b y the mock jurors. The research discovered that, the defendants who were remorseful had more lenient verdicts when they were compared to those of an angry defendant. (Christian, 2001).

There was a major relationship between ...

Introduction

Marder (2005) reports that jury trials are commonly used in the criminal trials in the common law legal system. The United States is famous for its consistence use of juries over bench judges in criminal legal tussles. The use of juries has extended to include civil cases in the United States and Canada. The jury process in the United States tends to be high profile discussions. However, legal scholars admit that the public exaggerate how often juries are used. Marder (2005) adds that, in the United States, there about 150, 000 thousand cases every year in the state Courts. ...

This paper sets out to examine the role of the jury in the United States Criminal Justice system and, more specifically, just how safe are the verdicts that the jury reaches in criminal trials. According to Judge Rebecca Knight (2007), a defendant’s right to a trial by jury was written into the 1776 Constitution and ratified in its later updates. Knight quoted the original Constitution as stating “the ancient mode of trial by jury is one of the best securities of the rights of the people, and ought to remain sacred and inviolable.” As a basic principle, it does seem logical ...

Jury Nullification

“You . . . police the Police. You police them by your verdict. You are the ones to send the message. Nobody else is going to do it in this society. You . . . are the ones in war; you are the ones on the front line” Johnnie Cochran, 1995 O.J. Simpson trial, on jury nullification Jury nullification refers to a jury’s decision to return a verdict of “not guilty” even when the jury believes that the defendant is guilty of the criminal charges. In essence, the jury “nullifies” a law that it does not want to apply to the defendant, either because the jury ...

The play Twelve Angry Men was first presented as a television broadcast in 1954 on CBS. Despite its obvious adaptability to the stage, and several presentations on the London stage, it took half a century before the play actually appeared in Broadway. The play itself revolves around a jury that has to deliberate on the guilt or innocence of a teen accused of stabbing and killing his father. However, the play is less about the “mystery,” which is never really resolved, than it is about the struggle that goes on the jury room between these twelve men. In many ways, the actions and ...