In its brief, the government asserted that the question of whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction “does not turn on the content of jury instructions.” Rather, the sufficiency of the evidence standard is made with reference to an accurate understanding of the elements required for a conviction. As such, a conviction should be upheld if “any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” At the federal level, these elements are defined by Congress, meaning that an erroneous jury instruction should have “no effect on sufficiency analysis.” Thus, the government contended that its failure to object to an erroneous jury instruction should not have any impact on whether the elements as defined by Congress supported a finding of guilt.
In support of this position, the government cited two decided decisions by the Court holding that the failure to object to a jury instruction is not controlling “for purposes of appellate review of the denial of a directed verdict or judgment notwithstanding the verdict.” Rather, the question of whether a party is entitled to a directed verdict “depends upon the sufficiency of the evidence up to that point in the trial,” not of the content of jury instructions, which are “outside the scope of that analysis.”
For these reasons, the government argued that Petitioner’s reliance on the law-of-the-case doctrine was misplaced. The government emphasized that Petitioner’s
We have repeatedly held that a verdict may not be directed unless the evidence all points one way and is susceptible of no reasonable inference
Juries exists in the criminal trial to listen to the case presented to them and, as a third, non-bias party, decide beyond reasonable doubt if the accused is guilty. For the use of a trial by juror to be effective, no bias should exists in the jurors judgments, the jurors should understand clearly their role and key legal terms, and the jury system should represent the communities standards and views whilst upholding the rights of the accused and society and remain cost and time effective.
Upon an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment a juror may not testify as to any matter or statement made during the course of deliberation Colo. R. Evid 606(b). The defense argued the
7-Yes,the supreme court recognized how unjust it is to have a trial without counsel present.
| |evidence to continue to a criminal trial. Also there|If a juror holds personal beliefs over the evidence |
The Eighth Circuit of United States Court of Appeals did not apply the law correctly and the honorable Supreme Court shall rule in favor of the defendants.
To properly follow due process, an unbiased jury, resistant to influences outside of the court, is necessary. With the advancement of communication, courts must insure that juror bias is never used against the accused in a court of law. Though there is nothing that restricts the media from reporting events in the court, the judge should continue the trial until the threat of bias shows. If too much bias shows the case shall be sent to another county that received less publicity of the
Why aren’t jurors, the people who can potentially decide whether a person lives or dies, properly trained in the field of law? Despite the conviction that the United States judicial system is impartial and unblemished, juries thwart this assumption from becoming an actuality, thus making courts inadequate to generate a proper verdict. A fair trial entails unbiased and erudite jurors that establish an adjudication based solely on evidence, yet run of the mill citizens can have predisposed prejudices forged upon the grounds of race. Moreover, with the germination of many technological advancements, biases are conceived from illicit research conducted by jurors in the deliberation room, which perpetuates the notion that trials are becoming
By explaining where the idea of having a grand jury comes from and its role in criminal law today, Offit hopes to help those for the abolition of a jury get a better understanding on the procedures surrounding a grand jury. She explains that only with more knowledge of how this law system works is there a way to improve this system. Unlike the article by Robert Johnston, this article talks about the more recent developments
Another criticism is that, in most cases, Justices are not educationally trained to evaluate the social science research presented to them in the court. Yet, the attorney’s bring in experts to explain such information to the Justices and it is up to them to decide the validity of the expert (Aughenbaugh). One should note that the problem is not the mode of interpretation, but who won a case and how the case was won
Lastly, they argued that in the particular case of the applicant, there was no opportunity to raise the doubt of impartiality as none of the juror police officers had any previous knowledge of the case and the serving police officer, though he recognised the man at the court he did not know the man or his connection to the case. There was no dispute on the fact that the accused had murdered or not but only that was it on self-defence. Moreover, the defence counsel was consulted by the trial judge to give their consent the situation and counsel had not given any objections to the existence and continuation of the juror police officer in the jury. Additionally, there was no relevant fact to suggest that the members of jury acted inappropriately
Maryland in 1963 resulted in a landmark decision that “is perhaps one of the most significant Supreme Court decisions to ever impact the criminal justice system” (Rothlein, 2007). In Brady v. Maryland, the petitioner, Brady, was a co-defendant in a murder trial. During discovery, the prosecution withheld from the defense counsel the statement where the other co-defendant in the case, Boblit, admitted to the actual killing. Without the admission of this exculpatory statement, the court found Brady guilty. The assertion of this case is that the prosecution cannot withhold evidence that is favorable to an accused where the evidence can possibly lead to a finding of innocent. The decision in this case “held that a prosecutor violates the Due Process Clause when he fails to disclose material evidence favorable to the accused” (Hochman, 1996). This resulted in the Brady
The trial judge instructed the jury not to consider LM’s statements when deciding the appellant’s case. The appellant’s grounds for appeal to the High Court, were that these statements should have been considered.
When accused of wrongdoing or of a specific crime, American citizens are afforded certain rights thanks to the system of democracy in the United States. A trial by jury with jury members made of one's peers is the right that plays the overwhelmingly salient role in the movie "12 Angry Men." This paper delves into the jury's role in the movie along with the role of a jury in the American justice system. The thesis: a) the American system of justice has come a long way since the 1950s, when judges did not necessarily explain to juries that the accused cannot be convicted unless there proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he or she is guilty; and b) there are legitimate questions raised as to what "reasonable doubt" really means.
Jury Nullification is commonly understood in criminal law as a situation where a jury chose to acquit a defendant of charges brought by the state, even though the jurors believe the defendant committed the illegal act. Due to the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, people cannot be tried twice for the same crime. A type of “Jury Nullification” may also occur as in Mr. Cornell’s case where no juror can be found out of a pool of potential jurors who will