What is a jury trial?
At a jury trial, a group of people called a jury determines whether or not you are guilty or not guilty. The jury is made up of six people for delinquency cases or twelve people for youthful offender cases. The people are selected at random from the county where your case occurred. You and your lawyer play a role in choosing who is on your jury. The prosecutor will have witnesses testify about what they know or saw. Your lawyer will have a chance to ask the witnesses questions and can also have witnesses testify for you. You can also testify and tell your side of the story. After all the witnesses have testified, your lawyer will tell the jurors why they should decide you are not guilty. The prosecutor will tell the jurors why they should decide that you are guilty and has to prove to the jury that you are guilty. If the jurors are not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty then they must find you not guilty. All the jurors must agree on the decision. If they cannot ag
Although an adult has the right to a trial by jury, juveniles do not. A jury trial is where 12 jurors, collectively called the “trier of fact”, listen to testimony and look at physical evidence presented by both the district attorney and the defense, and then decide what is true what is not true. The judge’s job during a jury trial is to make sure that everyone follows the law. At a jury trial, the district attorney’s job is to convince the jury that the person charged committed the crime with which he or she is charged “beyond a reasonable doubt”. All 12 jurors must agree that the person is guilty. If the jury cannot agree, the jury is hung, and a “mistrial” will be declared by the court. This could mean that the case may be tried again before a different jury, or the district attorney or the court may dismiss the case, or a case settlement may be agreed upon by the district attorney and the defense.
