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A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used in a significant share of serious criminal cases in many common law judicial systems, but not all.
A bench trial (whether criminal or civil) that is presided over by a judge has some distinctive characteristics, but it is similar to a jury trial. For example, the rules of evidence and methods of objection are the same in a bench trial as in a jury trial. Bench trials, however, are frequently less formal than jury trials.
A citizen's right to a trial by jury is a central feature of the United States Constitution. [1] It is considered a fundamental principle of the American legal system. Laws and regulations governing jury selection and conviction/acquittal requirements vary from state to state (and are not available in courts of American Samoa), but the fundamental right itself is mentioned five times in the ...
The practice is also dictated by a state Superior Court rule of criminal procedure, instituted in 1972, that specifies that cases be tried by a jury unless the defendant waives a jury trial in ...
As common law provided, the judge could set aside (or nullify) a jury verdict when the judge decided the verdict was contrary to the evidence or the law. Common law precluded the judge from himself entering a verdict; a new trial, with a new jury, was the only course permissible. In Slocum v.
Around 11:30 a.m. Monday, the jury told the judge they reached a unanimous verdict on the second count in the case. The more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter was dismissed Friday after ...
In the afternoon, the judge read juror note #28 of the Madigan trial, which advised the court that jurors would be leaving at 4:30 p.m. instead of at 4:45 p.m. from Monday through Thursday for the ...
The jury finds the facts and applies them to the relevant statute or law it is instructed by the judge to use to reach its verdict. Thus, in a jury trial, the jury makes the findings of fact while the judge makes legal rulings as to what evidence will be heard by the jury and what legal framework governs the case. Jurors are instructed to ...