Jury

a body of men selected by a court to pass on certain facts. There are three kinds of juries in the United States. A coroner's jury, usually of six men, may be impaneled by a coroner to inquire into the circumstances of a death and determine whether it was due to natural causes, or whether it requires further investigation. A grand jury is called upon to sift accusations that may be made against an alleged criminal. If, in the judgment of this jury, the accused should be required to stand trial, an indictment is brought. A petit jury has more serious work in hand. Its decisions are practically final. In case of an accusation of murder, for instance, the petit jury of twelve men is called upon to hear the evidence and to decide whether the accused is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt. The presiding judge is expected to excuse from the jury all who, upon examination, appear to have a prejudice against the accused, and all who are biased against the execution of the laws as they stand. The council for the defendant is also permitted to excuse a certain number peremptorily, without giving any reason other than that he deems them unfit to try the case. In case the jury disagrees the status of the accused is the same as it was before trial. He may be tried again. In case the jury acquits, the accused cannot be placed in jeopardy again for the same offense.

Save in the army and navy, and during the reign of martial law, the right of trial by jury of their peers is secured to all in English-speaking countries. This right is incorporated in the constitution of the United States, it being considered that one's neighbors are more likely to do him justice than a bench of judges or other officials. In view of the fact that many who are clearly guilty go free by reason of sympathy, some students of law assert that the ends of justice would be more likely to be secured if the petit jury were replaced by a bench of judges or professional triers of cases.

The origin of the jury has been sought in the old English custom of compurgation described elsewhere. Historians of the law state, however, that compurgation had been forgotten for a few centuries before trial by jury became a practice. Richard Green, the eminent historian, fell into the common error of locating a date and an event for the origin of the jury. According to him, we may trace the origin of the petit jury to the Assize of Clarendon in 1166. In the trial of certain criminal cases twelve lawful men were summoned to assist the judge. They were to act not only as witnesses but as jurors. They were called upon to give the general reputation and standing of the alleged criminal in the community, and to render an opinion as to whether he was guilty of the particular charge preferred. As a matter of fact, the jury, as known in English-speaking countries--"the bulwark of English liberty"--is a descendant of the Frankish and Norman use of the inquisition or search into the facts. The Norman courts introduced into England the practice of summoning by public authority a number of men who lived in the locality and might be relied upon to know the truth and tell the truth as to the facts in question. These jurors, so called because they were placed under oath, were at first witnesses. The official courts, we may call them, of William the Conqueror, that compiled the Doomsday Book, summoned juries of this nature. The nature of the jury changed gradually. At first the jury gave evidence as to the guilt of the defendant charged with crime, or relative to the rights of adverse claimants to land.

It appears to have been recognized at an early day that twelve men, good and true, even though they had no personal knowledge, or entire knowledge, might be depended upon to come at the facts of the case if assisted by testimony. In the later development of the system, the jurors were chosen, not to give evidence, but to sift evidence, and that is the present function of the jury. In fact, the juror takes oath that he has not formed prior opinion and that his mind is open. The court decides what witnesses may appear before the jury and what evidence may be admitted. The judge in his charge limits the inquiry of the jury to a narrow field. The verdict of the jury is reduced practically to a decision of whether the testimony is to be credited or not. The law and the court leave the jury little else to do. In civil cases, as suits for damage or recovery, it devolves upon the jury to award a fixed sum.

The spread of the petit jury from England to other English-speaking lands was general. In criminal cases the early Scotch jury consisted of fifteen persons. A majority of this jury might render a verdict. The verdict might be "guilty," or "not guilty," or "not proven." The last named, known as a Scotch verdict, released the accused, but affixed a brand of implied guilt. The juries of continental Europe are considered an outgrowth of Roman law and procedure.