It is the personalities of the jurors, not the facts, which hinder justice. Discuss

The personalities of the jurors and their feelings towards the defendant can get in the way of the truth. The jury is a number of people, coming together from a range of backgrounds each bringing their own life experiences and values, determining the outcome of a matter in the court. As the judge says in Rose’s ‘Twelve Angry Men’, the jury is “faced with a grave responsibility” as they, the jury, must decide the fate of the accused. A fact, is a ‘truth known by actual experience or observation.’ Therefore, a jury should not be relied upon when determining the outcome of a case. The decision should ultimately be left in the hands of the judge when determining the outcome of the case.

The random group of jurors, thus diverse personalities present a cross section of society, background and beliefs. Each juror brings different views to the table. In ‘Twelve Angry Men’, the jurors were positive and destructive.  Juror 8 tried to make the other jurors see a reasonable doubt in the evidence presented by the lawyers as he was a logical and fair-minded man. Juror 3 found it hard to separate the case with his failed relationship with his son and let it blind him from seeing the faults in the evidence. Juror 10 was racist and prejudicial and he frequently resorted to the use of stereotypes to support his arguments. Not only may a random cross-section of people in the jury hinder justice but also one’s lack of interest or lack of knowledge in the studies of law.

Members of the jury may not be interested in the case or have a little to no knowledge of the legal system. It is possible that members of the jury may have some place else to be. In Rose’s ‘Twelve Angry Men’, Juror 7 seemed uninterested had made it clear that he wanted to finish the case as quickly as possible to watch a baseball match in which he had bought tickets for. Also, Juror 12 was more interested in his career than the case as he kept on doodling new ideas for sales. There is also a large possibility that members of the jury have little knowledge of the legal system because of a lack of education or they might be a foreigner and the legal system in their home countries might differ to the system in their adopted country.  Juror 11 is a migrant from Germany and he brought with him the experience of persecution without legal protection. Not only may the jury be disinterested or have a lack of knowledge on the area, a jury is also costly and time consuming.

The jury system can be very time consuming, and costly as a hung verdict are difficult to resort to. Not reaching a verdict agreed upon by every member of the jury means that the jury would have to deliberate over a few days, resulting in increased costs and time delays. Majority verdicts save time and money as there will generally be a verdict. The majority verdict also has its faults as it reduces the chances of a correct verdict and does not ensure that the defendant is guilty beyond reasonable doubt as there is some doubt in the mind of some jurors.

It is the personalities of the jury which hinder justice. The jury is a range of different people with different values and beliefs coming together to reach a verdict in a case. The jurors may not be able to separate their personal lives with the matter at hand because of boredom and frustration. It is very probable that members of the jury may have little knowledge of the legal system. Also, the jury system is a very costly and time consuming. The jury should not be relied upon when choosing a verdict for the accused, it should be ultimately left to the judge to reach a decision.

Source Article from http://banoosh.com/blog/2013/07/31/it-is-the-personalities-of-the-jurors-not-the-facts-which-hinder-justice-discuss/

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