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#1 |
Philosopher
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Brisbane, Aust.
Posts: 6,534
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Trial By Jury
So what do others here think about trial by jury as being the best and fairest way to reach a verdict? From my youth I always thought it the obvious best, but with the passing of years and knowledge gained, I'm not so sure any more.
I think the guy in the street may not be the best judge in assessing evidence. Perhaps someone who has more expertise and less vulnerability, to the persuasive skills of talented lawyers, is better suited to the task. It is the knowledge of those innocents having been convicted and later released, that I read about, as well as personal experience in the witness box, leading me to this opinion. Some years ago I was witness to a stabbing where the victim almost died. My recollection of the detail of the assault itself and the identity of the assailant was clear. The assailant was apprehended by the police and brought back to the scene of the crime where we, the witnesses, were. After the assault the police (just one guy) was on the scene in minutes, told all present to say where we were, and set off in pursuit of the assailant. We, the witnesses, talked. For some reason someone mentioned he thought the assailant wore glasses, and although I had no recollection of this, my mind put glasses on his head. They were there when I eventually made my statement to the police. Some time later, giving evidence at the trial, the defence lawyer made a strong point about my making this observation (as it happened the guy was not wearing glasses), and cast doubt on the veracity of my evidence. |
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#2 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 9,931
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alibi defenses
For now I will confine myself to one narrow question. If I were a defendant with an alibi defense (especially if it were based on witnesses, not electronic evidence), I might opt for a bench trial, as opposed to a jury trial. Juries sometimes disregard strong alibi evidence, for example in the case of Russ Faria of Missouri in the United States. In his case the jury disregarded both witnesses and electronic evidence.
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#3 |
Observer of Phenomena
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Your anecdote establishes the unreliability of witnesses more than it establishes the unreliability of jurors.
Having sat on a jury myself (and been foreman since no-one else wanted the honour), I can say that the jury is not asked to assess the evidence, they are asked to assess the arguments. The evidence is there to support the arguments made by the lawyers, and prosecution and defence will present different evidence. The other thing is that jurors are not asked to interpret the law. In fact, we were sent out to the jury room for a considerable time while the lawyers debated about a specific interpretation of the law (specifically, whether it is lawful to use reasonable force to resist an unlawful arrest (turns out, it is)). When we were brought back to the courtroom, the judge gave us the interpretation of the court and we went on from there. So my answer to your question is the same as Churchill's answer about democracy. Trial by jury is the worst justice system, apart from all those others that have been tried from time to time. |
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#4 |
Philosopher
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Brisbane, Aust.
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No I think you missed the point I was trying to make and perhaps I made the point clumsily. I was making the point the jury may have given less weight to my evidence than it deserved, because the lawyer, somewhat dishonestly, cast doubt on my testimony. The glasses on the assailants head was not of any significance and did not command my attention. What he said and did certainly commanded my attention and my recollection of this was very clear. There is an example that comes to mind about this. Given by Richard Dawkins in one of his books as I recall: Some people were asked to watch a video where a group of folk were passing an object, one to another, and count how many times it passed from hand to hand. During the video a man in a gorilla suit walked among the group. Non of the people watching the video saw the gorilla when asked. In my example above the glasses were the gorilla! |
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#5 |
I would save the receptionist.
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You're still just talking about the unreliability of eyewitness recollection. You say the lawyer "somewhat dishonestly" called attention to your mistaken memory. I don't know what about this could be considered dishonest. He showed that you had made a mistake in a detail identifying the defendant. He then asked the jury to consider whether it was reasonable to conclude that other details of your testimony might also be false. Heck, any defense lawyer with a wealthy enough client would bring in an expert to testify about just how badly memory works, especially when polluted with the suggestions of others. I would imagine a jury, if anything, would be more forgiving and more swayed by eyewitnesses than a judge. A judge would have been exposed over and over to expert studies showing the unreliability of eyewitness memory. Juries would be more apt to believe a witness like you (and to forgive one tiny detail) than a judge would. |
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#6 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Nelson, New Zealand
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One of the problems you get with juries is that they are (overall) truly a representation of the public. That means you will get people who are too dumb or too stupid to serve on a jury, who hate the police and the establishment or who love the police and the establishment, who are racists or bigots, or other undesirables, right down to people who just plain can't be arsed and don't even want to be there.
I read a few years ago a suggestion that jurors ought to be selected from a pool of volunteers, who need to pass a rudimentary IQ test and a psych evaluation to show that they are fit for duty. Having volunteers gets around the problem of people not wanting to be there. |
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#7 |
Observer of Phenomena
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Okay, but that still means that it is the lawyer that was unreliable and not the jury. The jury's duty is to listen to the lawyer's argument and come to a decision. It's not their fault if the lawyer's dishonest.
That's a great study and everybody with an interest in skeptical thinking should be familiar with it. But again, I think it's an illustration of the unreliability of eyewitness testimony rather than of a jury. If there is a weakness of the whole trial by jury system, it is that it relies too heavily on eyewitness testimony. But I think now that this is the point you were trying to make, and I unnecessarily focused too hard on the jury part and went off on a tangent. |
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#8 |
Observer of Phenomena
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Remember that the American jury system includes voir dire, during which the lawyers can cross-examine potential jurors for reasons to reject them. Here in Australia, your name is called, you stand up, they take a look at you, and either of the lawyers can reject you. And if they don't, you join the jury. And that's it. No questions, no cross examination. Just stand up, yes or no.
There are advantages and disadvantages to this system. The advantage is that you do get a genuine cross section of society. The disadvantage is that you do get a genuine cross section of society. |
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#9 |
Skeptical about skeptics
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Juries are not always the "best and fairest way to reach a verdict". That is why in high profile cases where there is a lot of public discussion about the case, a judge may prove more impartial than a jury.
However, one of the reasons for jury trials is to guard against corruption in the legal system. Every member of the legal system has a dog in the fight and interests of the system may be more important to them than the interests of the accused. Juries have no interest in protecting the legal system and are freer to decide a case on their own beliefs. |
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#10 |
Gentleman of leisure
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I would like to see a semi professional jury. The jury are given training on how to assess arguments and generally how to do their job. A person does not just sit on one trial, they do the job for a number of years.
Of course the people who sit on a jury would have to be their voluntarily. And probably paid. The advantage here is that people would know what is significant and what is not. For example they would know that it is not important if a person is wearing glasses. |
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#11 |
Maledictorian
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 14,408
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Trial by Jury is a very bad system.
It is incredibly laborious, expensive and time-consuming, which is why Plea deals have become the norm. It is also very prone to mistrials. Many legal systems have lay assessors along with the judge, or multiple judges for a single case to make the system less dependent on a single person. And, of course, hardly any nation with the Rule of Law elects their judges - that is a pretty bonkers system, basically (and sometimes litterally) begging to be corrupted. |
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#12 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Suomi
Posts: 20,268
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Trial by twelve of your peers has been shown throughout time to be the best system for weighing justice. In the case of identification parades, identifying someone would not be considered adequate evidence. In any eyewitness account, a court will be looking for corroborating evidence.
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#13 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 9,931
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Can a jury weigh competing scientific testimony
The kind of identification you mentioned above was bad practice on the part of the police. Line-ups with filler are the correct way to make or not to make an identification (reference available upon request). Had the defense lawyer challenged the identification on this point, he would have been on solid ground IMO. Whether a jury would or would not have understood and accepted this as a poor quality identification is an interesting question.
Now on to my main point. It is also asking quite a bit of juries to digest complex scientific evidence. The outstanding (in the bad sense of the word) example of this was the 2015 retrial of Mark Lundy. Not only was this a trial in which immunohistochemistry was used (an extreme rarity), but the prosecution chose to introduce mRNA evidence that was novel in the sense of not being peer reviewed in this specific application (the Lundy thread here has some discussion on both points). The mRNA evidence was later tossed by the appeals court. How a jury is supposed to decide between competing expert views when the science has not been thoroughly test driven is beyond me. |
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It is possible both to be right about an issue and to take oneself a little too seriously, but I would rather be reminded of that by a friend than a foe. (a tip of the hat to Foolmewunz) |
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#14 |
Philosopher
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Brisbane, Aust.
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No argument from me regarding the unreliability of eye witness testimony. On the other hand this is the only testimony available in a number of cases, and the person or persons listening to the testimony must be able to weigh it effectively. In the example I gave the identity of the assailant was never in question. He admitted to the assault and expressed remorse immediately after. The trial was about establishing wether the assault was premeditated or not. The state wanted attempted murder to stick and the defence wanted a lesser charge and hence sentence. I, as a witness, heard clearly the damning and hatful words used by the assailant and saw the attack. This was the centre of my attention as I was only 2 - 3 metres away and looking in that direction. It was extremely loud and violent. Why would I be taking note of how the assailant was dressed or if he wore glasses? My argument is that a jury can be swayed by a lawyer drawing attention to irrelevant discrepancies in detail whereas a professional, like a judge, may be more realistic about the value of my evidence. I also think a professional would give more weight to scientific, or forensic, evidence also that a jury (of perhaps dimwits*), who don't understand the nature of this kind of evidence also. * Having served on a few juries I can say this with authority. |
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#15 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Hong Kong
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Why not both? I think a jury trial has merit, in principle and in practice. But I also think that having your case decided by a judge instead can certainly be an option if you want it.
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#16 |
Philosopher
Join Date: May 2016
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I am not talking about fault here, I am talking about competency. The professional, like the judge, would not be swayed by the lawyer, clouding the issue by drawing attention to the flawed detail, about irrelevancies in my observation.
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#17 |
Philosopher
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#18 |
Philosopher
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#19 |
Penultimate Amazing
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#20 |
Philosopher
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#21 |
Observer of Phenomena
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#22 |
Muse
Join Date: Jan 2020
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Both would be an excluded middle, though, and it can have a number of flavors based on how either method is chosen per case.
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#23 |
The Grammar Tyrant
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 27,955
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I've been saying that for decades.
In NZ, thanks to appallingly low payments, juries are a mix of retirees, unemployed, civil servants and bank employees. Self-employed people almost never serve, along with company executives, doctors & scientists. We people our juries with the dumbest people possible, then have the temerity to call it a jury of "peers". Juries are a bad joke. |
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#24 |
Observer of Phenomena
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I choose to ignore your characterisation of civil servants as among the dumbest people possible.
![]() But you do raise a good point. Being self-employed means that for the duration of the trial you cannot work, and therefore cannot make money. I saw quite a few people get out of duty on those grounds. I'm a public servant, so I get paid leave if I'm called. Not everybody is that fortunate. |
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#25 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2009
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A link to the Russell Faria case; a different rejected alibi defense
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It is possible both to be right about an issue and to take oneself a little too seriously, but I would rather be reminded of that by a friend than a foe. (a tip of the hat to Foolmewunz) |
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#26 |
The Grammar Tyrant
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 27,955
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It's not all of them, but overall, I can't think of a larger, more biased, ignorant, group than civil servants. It's been a home for the mentally deficient for many decades.
My old man was a civil servant for the last half-dozen years of his career, back in the '70s and I've seen nothing to indicate an improvement since then. |
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#27 |
Observer of Phenomena
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#28 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Hong Kong
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I don't think either one is best in all situations. I think what is best is to have a system that makes use of both.
I think your question is like asking what's better, a doctor or a dentist? A destroyer or an aircraft carrier? A coupe or a ute? Carbs or proteins? My answer in all these cases is, "it depends, and a good system will make use of both." And also, "why do you want to restrict it to one or the other? Why not have both?" |
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#29 |
The Grammar Tyrant
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 27,955
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I find it somewhat surprising that after all the years I've been watching, we still haven't designed a foolproof method of establishing guilt.
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#30 |
Observer of Phenomena
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#31 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Oct 2012
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#32 |
Skeptical about skeptics
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: 31°57'S 115°57'E
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Why is the option of trial by judge alone "silly"? Because that option doesn't exist in Victoria?
Many a time, bad publicity about a case makes it almost impossible for an impartial jury to be selected. That's why in WA, the prosecution or the defence can request a trial by judge alone. |
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#33 |
Self Employed
Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 30,000
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The idea of anything that even resembles a "Professional full time juror" fills me with deep dread. The absolute last thing our justice system needs is anything that resembles a real life version of the internet's "Miscarriage of justice fandom."
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Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate." |
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#34 |
Penultimate Amazing
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#35 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 9,931
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The opposite would be at least as bad
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__________________
It is possible both to be right about an issue and to take oneself a little too seriously, but I would rather be reminded of that by a friend than a foe. (a tip of the hat to Foolmewunz) |
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#36 |
Self Employed
Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009
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Posts: 30,000
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Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate." |
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#37 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 48,643
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Speaking of rides: Which is best for solving the Trolley Problem? A judge, or a jury?
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#38 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: May 2008
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#39 |
The Grammar Tyrant
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 27,955
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The point of equilibrium has passed; satire and current events are now indistinguishable. |
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#40 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 48,643
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In the US, appeals are generally about process failures, not disputes about the jury's decision as such. The verdict gets thrown out on appeal not because the jury made the "wrong" decision, but because they made "right" decision as the outcome of a flawed or incomplete legal process.
The appeals court is basically judges weighing in on matters of law and legal process, as subject matter experts. If the prosecution failed to prosecute according to the law, for example. Or if the defense got an acquittal because they withheld evidence they were required by law to produce. Etc. This is less ironic, but more reasonable, in my opinion. Is it different in NZ? Do appeals courts have juries that weigh in on matters of legal process expertise? Do appeals generally focus on disputing the jury's verdict as such? Are appeals court judges ruling on the propriety of jury decisions in lower courts, rather than the propriety of the legal process of the trial? |
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