Rhetorical Analysis

What is the difference between a “petit” and a “grand” jury? Petit juries have 12 members who decide, based on evidence, if the defendant is guilty or not guilty. Grand juries indict people. Its functions is to decide if the government has a case or not. How are they chosen? Through a jury pool from those serving jury duty. What are their respective functions? To decide if the government has a case, and to decide if the defendant is guilty or not guilty. Also if a person has won or lost a lawsuit.

Juries are selected from the general population; they are to be a representation of the people from that area. In trials with a jury, the first step is the selection of jurors. The jury selection process starts with something called voir dire, which is Latin for “to speak the truth”. Voir dire is where either the lawyers or the judge ask potential jurors questions about matters deemed to be significant to the trial. The judge may be asked to dismiss a juror for cause by the lawyer if incompetence or likely bias has been proven. (Baum, 2013) For example, a juror can be dismissed for cause if he or she is related to anyone involved in the case including the defendant or a lawyer, or if a company that is part of the lawsuit employs him or her. Each lawyer may request the dismissal of jurors for cause with no limit. (American Bar Association, 2016) Both sides are allowed a limited number of peremptory challenges, which are how a juror can be dismissed without having to show cause. The lawyer is to dismiss because they believe the person to be unable to serve in the best interest of the client not because of race or sex. (American Bar

A grand jury works like this…. First, a group of individuals are randomly selected via a jury pool such as voter registries or drivers licenses. Those selected individuals are asked to fill out a questionnaire and then based on that questionnaire they are also asked questions by the judge and attorneys. Based on their answers they are selected or not selected to be on the jury for that particular case. Once the jurors are selected (at least 16 jurors have to be

In California, the Grand Jury is a body of fellow citizens whose job is to hear evidence presented by a District Attorney to determine if there is enough evidence for indictment. The Grand Jury is composed of twenty-three people. Of those twenty-three members, at least 14 grand jurors must endorse a true bill for it to be passed (The California Grand Jury System, 2014, p. 3).

Juries date back to 1066 and some speculate even before then. Since then, it has varied between 6 or 12 jury members and this is isn’t because of any serious flaws, it is just how it went(Hans and Vidmar.) Juries are used to be the deciding factor in many different types of cases; murder, thievery, abuse, or stealing. Juries are backed by many articles in the Constitution; such as Article III Section 2, The Sixth Amendment, and the Seventh Amendment. Article III Section Two states that “The trial of all crimes shall be by jury and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes have been committed.” The Sixth Amendment guarantees and quick and speedy trial with an unbiased jury. Finally, the Seventh Amendment states that with any crime above

The jury selection will be six to twelve depending on the case trial. The jury is required to listen to the evidence presented and make a mutual decision of innocent or guilty.

A jury is made up of six to 12 people who are chosen by the defense and the prosecution. A trial jury, otherwise known as a petit jury, takes place to determine whether someone is guilty of the crime they are charged with ("Types of Juries," n.d.). The venire, (the jury panel), is then questioned by the judges and / or the attorneys to determine whether they should be part of the jury, in a process called voir dire (to speak the truth) (Meyer & Grant, 2003). Finding jury members who can look at all the evidence without bias, is an intricate part of a trial, and therefore, finding the right jurors is crucial to the prosecutors, as well as the defense attorneys. Prosecutors want to find members that will be sympathetic to the victim’s situation,

First, we are going to discuss the grand jury. This process is probably the most commonly known. It can be seen in shows like Law and Order and CSI when it comes to charging people with a felony. By definition, a grand jury is “a panel of persons chosen through strict court procedures to review criminal investigations and… to conduct criminal investigations” (Garland, N. 2012, 21p). This

A grand jury is made up of people in the community. The grand jury pool is the first group of potential jurors. It consists of all people living in that community in the court’s jurisdiction who are eligible. In order to be considered eligible to participate in federal grand jury, the person must be a U.S. citizen and over the age of 18. The jurors must also be able to speak fluent English and be able to fill out a selection questionnaire. They also must have no prior or pending felony charges or convictions on record. From there, the court will pick the grand juror candidates at random from the grand jury pool. The clerk of courts will then identify the chosen candidates from public records.

When felony charges do pass the proverbial common sense test with judges then proceedings for a trial will be established by one of two ways. If an offender feels that he or she is not guilty then he or she can request a trial by jury or in some case a bench trial where the defendant is tried by the judge. A trial by jury is usually the last step in a felony charge case and ultimately determines either innocence or guilt by unanimous verdict. The proponent of the jury will consist usually of twelve people who are randomly selected through a blind draw from a secretary of state list of licensed drivers (Nichols, n.d.). After the selection process is complete the potential jurors are administered “voir dire” or questions presented by the

Made of only twelve ordinary citizens, the jury is to create a verdict from the trial they attend, present it, and then be able to defend their verdict (Jordan, 2002, p.1). Before these twelve jurors are selected, certain individuals are randomly selected from the voters registration list and other different sources depending on the subject of location (Jordan, 2002, p.18). After the potential jurors are given an extensive voir dire, the jurors deemed qualified to participate in the case move on to the court where they take the oath and begin the trial (Jordan, 2002, p.20). The individuals of the jury then listen closely as evidence is being brought forward by both the prosecutor and the defense attorney. The jurors then evaluate the evidence that has been brought to them alongside the law and create a verdict (Jordan, 2002, p.20). When the jurors reach their verdict, they present their findings to the court (Jordan, 2002, p.20). The only way the jury is able to reach their verdict is with the evidence presented to them by the

Selecting process of jury: During selection process to determine the best juries to elect, the judge, and the respective attorneys questioned a pool of potential jurors. Questions such as personal ideological predispositions or life experiences were ask pertaining to the case. After the general questions were asked, the jurors were asked to take a break (leave the room) and wait to be call back in. The judge then had the opportunity to eliminate any jurors based on their answer(s).

A criminal defendant’s right to a trial by an impartial and unbiased jury is one of the foundations of the United States judicial system (Flanagan 2015). However, today there is evidence showing that not every defendant receives such a trial. The process of selecting jurors can exclude a particular race (most often blacks) and can also make a biased jury. Attorneys have the power to strategically eliminate prospective jurors which means that even if individual jurors with extreme biases are less likely, juries composed mostly or entirely of jurors with similar biases are more likely (Flanagan 2015). This comes from a peremptory challenge (this is explained in more depth in the next section). The biggest issue that takes place with this is that black jurors are excluded more often than non-black jurors from serving on a jury. Figure A shows a study done by the human rights group “Reprieve Australia” in which they show the number of black jurors struck or excluded compared to the number of non-black jurors struck in Louisiana. This is a huge issue that the United States judicial system faces and something needs to be changed.

Picking a juror to serve on a jury is equivalent to picking team mates for a football team. The team captain wants to pick the people who will be the strongest players, and will help in the victory of the game. Same goes for a jury selection, the defense and prosecution, who can be looked upon as captains, try to choose who are the strongest, and will help their team win. Each case is different, and therefore they need different types of people to take part in deciding the outcome. Jurors are chosen with the ideology that they are ideal to the case, if not chosen correctly a case could end up with a nightmare of a jury. A prosecutor that has taken a case of a murder involving a child will base their jury selection on finding parents, women, teachers, or

When a person is a defendant, suspicion has been taken to the next level. This means that some party has made a formal accusation of wrongdoing against another. As a result, legal action is in the process. According to Myers (2010) many trial attorneys have now used scientific jury selection to identify questions they can use to exclude those biased against their clients, and most report satisfaction with the results. Most jurors, when asked by a judge to raise your hand if you have read anything about this case that would prejudice you, don’t directly acknowledge their prejudices. It takes further questioning to reveal them. For example, if the judge allows an attorney to check prospective jurors’ attitudes toward killing, the attorney can