How You Were Chosen
Your name was selected at random from voter registration records and placed on a list of potential jurors. Next, your answers to the Questionnaire for Jurors were evaluated to make sure that you were eligible for jury service and were not exempt from the service. To be eligible, you must be over 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States, a resident of the country in which you are to serve as a juror, able to communicate in the English language and if you have been convicted of a felony, you must have had your civil rights restored. People who meet these requirements may be excused from jury service if they have illnesses that would interfere with their ability to do a good job, would suffer great hardship if required to serve, or are unable to serve for some other reason.
You are here because you were found to be eligible for jury duty and were able to serve. You are now part of the “jury pool”, the group of people from which trial juries are chosen.
Task # 17
Kinds of cases
As a juror, you may sit on a criminal case, a civil case, or both.
Civil Cases
Civil cases are usually disputes between or among private citizens, corporations, governments, government agencies, and both organizations. Most often, the party bringing the suit is asking for money damages for some wrong that has been done. For example, people who have been injured may sue a person or a company they feel is responsible for the injury.
The party bringing the suit is called plaintiff; the party being the sued is called the defendant. There may be many plaintiffs or many defendants in the same case.
The plaintiff starts lawsuit by filing a paper called a complaint, in which the case against the defendant is stated. The next paper filed is usually the answer, in which the defendant disputes what the plaintiff has said in the complaint. The defendant may also feel that there has been a wrong committed by the plaintiff, in which case a counterclaim will be filed along with the answer. It is up to the plaintiff to prove the case against the defendant. In each civil case the judge tells the jury the extent to which the plaintiff must prove the case. This is called the plaintiff’s burden of proof, a burden that plaintiff must meet in order to win.
Jury verdicts do not need to be unanimous in civil cases. Only ten jurors need to agree upon a verdict if there are 12 jurors: five must agree if there are six jurors.
Criminal Cases
A criminal case is brought by the state or by a city or county against a person or persons accused of having committed a crime. The state, city, or county is called the plaintiff; the accused person is called the defendant. The charge against the defendant is called a complaint. The plaintiff’s burden of proof is greater in a criminal case than in a civil case. In each criminal case you hear the judge will tell you all the elements of the crime that the plaintiff must prove; the plaintiff must prove each of these elements beyond reasonable doubt before the defendant can be found guilty.
|
|
|
In criminal case the verdict must be unanimous, that is, all jurors must agree the defendant is guilty in order to overcome the presumption of innocence.
Verdict
Notes: To submit – предоставлять
In favour –в пользу
Applicable – применимый
To render verdict – выносить вердикт
Designated – назначенный
Acquittal – оправдание
Precluding double jeopardy – предотвращая двойную опасность
Verdict, in law, is the pronouncement of the jury upon matters of fact submitted to them for deliberation and determination. In civil cases, verdicts may be either general or special. A general verdict is one in which the jury pronounces generally upon all the issues, in favor of either the plaintiff or the defendant. A special verdict is one in which the jury reviews the facts, but leaves to the court any decisions of law arising from those facts. As a rule, however, special verdicts are not applicable to criminal cases, and in most instances the jury renders verdict of “guilty” or “not guilty”.
Generally, the jury’s verdict must be unanimous. In a number of states, however, the condition of unanimity has been modified, and verdicts can consequently be rendered by a designated majority of the jury. All jury members must be present in court when the verdict is given.
In criminal cases a verdict of acquittal is conclusive upon the prosecution, thus precluding double jeopardy, but the defendant may be tried again in the event the jury cannot reach a decision. The defendant must be present when the verdict is rendered.
|
|
|
Capital punishment
The abolition of capital punishment in England in November 1965 was welcomed by most people with humane and progressive ideas. To them it seemed a departure from feudalism, from the cruel pre-Christian spirit of revenge: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Many of these people think differently now. Today, therefore, public opinion in Britain has changed. People who before, also in Parliament, stated that capital punishment was not a deterrent to murder - because have always been murders in all countries with or without the law of execution - now feel that killing the assassin is the lesser of two evils. Capital punishment, they think, may not be the ideal answer, but it is better than nothing, especially when, as in England, a sentence of "lifelong" imprisonment (a life sentence, as it is called) only lasts eight or nine years.
All this is very controversial. And all the arguments for and against can be proved in practice. The problem remains - the problem of how to prevent murders. Some murders are committed by criminals evading arrest, by insane or mentally disturbed people, by cold-blooded sadists completely devoid of all human feelings. The important thing in the prevention of murder is to eliminate as far as possible the weapons and instruments, the guns and knives, with which these crimes are committed, and furthermore to stop the dangerous influence of violence in books, films, television and other mass media, from which so many criminals derive their "inspiration".
Дата добавления: 2016-01-03; просмотров: 22; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы! |
Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!