Criminal Trial Process / Juries

Question 1

What are the three stages of a criminal trial?

Answer 1

Pre-Trial
Trial
Post-Trial

Question 2

What is the criminal pre-trial stage?

Answer 2

Preliminary hearings to determine whether a prime facie case exist

Police department gathers evidence and presents to DPP

DPP must present all evidence to defendant at least 14 days before hearing

Application for bail
Pleas

Question 3

What does the criminal trial stage consist of?

Answer 3

Accused is arrainged - information is read out about them and they plea guilty or not guilty

Jury is empanneled

Examination in cheif (DPP)
Cross-examination (Defence)
Re-examination (DPP)

Examination in cheif (Defence)
Cross-examination (DPP)
Re-examination (Defence)

Evidence in reply (DPP)

Closing Addresses

Judge’s Summary

Verdict

Question 4

What does the criminal post-trial stage consist of?

Answer 4

Sentencing hearing

DPP and defence make submissions before a sanction is given.

Prior convictions and factors taken into account

Question 5

What are juries?

Answer 5

A jury is a random selection of people who sit, as peers of the accused, at a criminal trial to decide the verdict of an accused person charged with an indictable offence. Most juries are comprised of 12 adult jurors, although the Juries Act 1927 (SA) allows up to 15 jurors to be empanelled.

Question 6

What is the role of the jury?

Answer 6

A jury’s fundamental role is to decide whether an accused person is guilty of not guilty (ie decide the verdict) of the crime for which he or she is being tried. A jury must only reach a verdict based solely on the admissible evidence presented at the trial, in accordance with the law as explained by the trial judge.

Question 7

What are the types of jury verdicts?

Answer 7

Unanimous

Majority

Hung

Perverse

Question 8

What is an unanimous jury verdict?

Answer 8

All jurors come to the same conclusion

Murder requires it

Question 9

What is a Majority jury verdict?

Answer 9

Accepted by judge after 4 hours of deliberation 11-1, 10-2 (With 12 jurors).

Question 10

What is a hung jury verdict?

Answer 10

No statuary majority - Mistrial

Question 11

What are the strengths of a jury?

Answer 11

An accused person’s guilt or innocence is determined by his/her peers and not agents of the State.

This can prevent the abuse of government power

Democratic

Shared-decision-making.

Question 12

Weakness of a jury

Answer 12

Not a true cross section of the community

Elderly citizens over 70 years of age are ineligible

Large proportion of immigrants with a poor command of the English language are excluded

Large number of people excused eg professionals or business positions.

Jurors are unqualified in legal matters and many have difficulty weighting and applying evidence to reach a logical conclusion

Non-disclosure of reasons for a verdict

Jurors are not held accountable.

Faulty logic or personal biases.

Question 13

What are some reforms to jury system?

Answer 13

Juries should somewhat have a say in the sentencing process instead of solely the judge.

Jurors should have a brief education in the legal system before they can sit on the jury.

Juries should give a reason for their verdict.

Have one foreperson for the jury who has had sufficient legal training.

Introduce a ‘not proven guilty’. Like the inquisitorial system, allow the jury to make a ‘not proven guilty’ verdict so if more evidence surfaces after the first trial, the accused can be retrialed.

Question 14

Who is eligible to serve on the Jury?

Answer 14

Prospective jurors must be between 17 and 71 years of age and registered on the House of Assembly electoral roll.

Question 15

What are the factors of staturoy ineligibility for jury duty?

Answer 15

The Juries Act determines those employed in the Criminal Justice system are ineligible. This includes.

Police officers (and their spouses)
Judges (and their spouses)
People employed in the courts administration process
Practising lawyers

Question 16

Which persons are disqualified from Jury Duty?

Answer 16

People who have committed a serious offence in the past or who are currently awaiting trial, sentencing or on parole.

Question 17

What is the process for jury selection?

Answer 17

Jury manager request 6,000 eligible names each year from the electoral role

Vetting by the police commissioner (400 randomly selected names are vetted by the PC who checks eligibility)

Summoning (Jury manager sends out 220 summons to potential jurors for that month)

Final vetting (individual jurors must identify themselves as ineligible or disqualified, apply to be excused or advise the jury they will report - 140 jurors identified to do a months jury service)

Monthly jury induction ( 140 jurors assemble where they are registered, issued a jury number and sworn in, judge or justice will inform them of their responsibilities and roles)

Empanelment

Question 18

How are juries empanelled?

Answer 18

This is the formal selection of 12-15 jurors to sit on the jury panel from the jury section assembled in the public gallery of a criminal court room before the parties begin to present their cases.

Jury sections assemble in the public gallery and the Judge calls the prosecution to call all witnesses.

Jurors can be excused of they have an “association”

Jurors names are selected randomly, thejuror moves towards the jury box

Defence and prosecution each permitted:

3 peremptory challenges (without cause)

Unlimited challenges with cause (judge approval)

The judge decides whether or not to approve the application for dismissal of a juror

The parties are given the opportunity to challenge jurors

The Juries Act allows up to 15 jurors to be empaneled at the discretion of the judge, but only 12 jurors will deliver a verdict.

If more than 12 jurors are still on the panel at the end of the trial, a ballot is conducted to remove the excess

The jury foreperson cannot be excluded by this process