7/17 NOTE on Jury System

jury  

/ˈdʒuəri US ˈdʒuri/ n [C]
a group of 12 ordinary people who listen to the details of a case in court and decide whether someone is guilty or not

consensus  

/kənˈsensəs/ n [singular, U]
an opinion that everyone in a group agrees with or accepts

unanimous  

/juːˈnænɪməs/ adj
a unanimous decision, vote, agreement etc is one in which all the people involved agree

sequester  

/sɪˈkwestə US -ər/ v [T usually passive] formal
to keep a person or a group of people away from other people

summons  

/ˋsʌmənz/ n [C]
a call by an authority to appear

my dog ate my homework  

a poor excuse

12 angry men

The original movie of “12 angry men” was released at 1957. The movie was adapted from the TV series "Twelve Angry Men", which was based on the jury system.

You can watch this movie on Youtube

Details about the jury system in USA

n  It’s a basic responsibility of American citizens to be in the jury once being summoned.

n  The American citizens also have the responsibility to vote and to pay tax.

n  Only serious cases (in fact the ones that punishable by incarceration for more than six months) that need to be judged by the jury.

n  There are 90 people to be potential jurors, but only 12 to be jurors in the court and 6 to be substitute in case of accidence.

n  The potential jurors will be questioned by the judge and lawyer from both sides to see whether they are just and capable of being a juror. Once admitted, there will be a chance for the potentials to be summoned to be jurors.

n  The potential jurors may try finding excuses, but often rejected by the judge. Judges sometimes accept personal excuses, while professional excuses are usually rejected.

n  There are often 2 to 4 weeks from a jury first receive summon by mail to he presents at the court. They need to arrange their life and work during this period for the trial.

n  Once the trial begins, whether the defender is guilty or not is only judged by the jury. The judge has no right to overturn the verdict made by the jury.

n  The jury needs to reach a consensus to the verdict, which means they need to be unanimous about the decision.

n  The jury must not talk about his opinion on the cases even to his family, or he will receive a penalty afterwards.

n  However, it’s still the judge who decides the final punishment for the defender according the law and verdict by the jury.

By Luo and James