The
jury trial, is a
common law process by which the "peers of the accused" are responsible for listening to a dispute, evaluating the evidence presented, deciding on the facts, and making a decision in accordance with the rules of
law and their
jury instructions. Some jurisdictions allow the defendant to waive their right to a jury trial, this leading to a
bench trial[?].
Trial by
jury is rarely used in
civil law jurisdictions, although many
civil law jurisdictions do have
lay assessors[?]. Jury trials tend to occur only when a crime is considered serious. Because jury trials tend to be high profile, the general public tends to overestimate the
frequency of jury trials.
The vast majority of
US criminal cases are not settled
by a jury, but rather by
plea bargain. Both
prosecutors[?] and
defendants often have a strong interest in resolving the criminal case by
negotiation.
In
Blanton v. City of North Las Vegas[?] (US-
1989) it was ruled: "offenses for which the maximum period of
incarceration is six months, or less, are presumptively petty...a defendant can overcome this, and become entitled to a jury trial,..by showing that additional penalties [such as
monetary fines]...are...so severe [as to indicate] that the legislature clearly determined that the offenese is a serious one."
See also:
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