Jurors may also pass notes to the foreman or forewoman of the jury to ask the judge to explain certain aspects of the case. At the conclusion of the trial, the jurors are given an issue paper, which states the issues that the jury must consider in reaching its verdict. When a jury consists of more than 12 members, only 12 are selected to consider the verdict. A Court Garda or other official is required to keep the jury together until the verdict is reached.
The jury is taken into the jury room and allowed no outside communication at all, with the exception of notes to the Court Registrar. They may keep a copy of the indictment, the exhibits and their notes. Jurors may send out notes asking for the law to be further explained or for the judge to remind them of the details of the evidence.
In reaching its verdict in a criminal trial , the jury must be satisfied that the person is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Beyond reasonable doubt means that if there are two reasons given in the case and both are possible explanations for what happened, taken together with the evidence presented, the jury should give the person the benefit of the doubt and decide on a verdict of not guilty. If the case is a civil one, the jury must be satisfied with its verdict on the balance of probabilities.
It is not necessary that a jury be unanimous in its verdict. In a criminal case, a verdict need not be unanimous where there are not fewer than 11 jurors if 10 of them agree on a verdict after considering the case for a reasonable time not less than two hours. In a civil trial, a verdict may be reached by a majority of 9 of the 12 members.
When the jury has reached its decision, it will return to the court and the verdict will be read out by the foreman or forewoman. The jury has no role in sentencing.
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Home Law, crime and justice Courthouse services Jury duty Jury selection. Section Navigation. Respond to a summons. Jury selection. Criminal trials. The Texas judicial system can be very confusing for those who are not familiar with it. The six types of trial courts in Texas include district courts, constitutional county courts, statutory county courts at law, statutory probate courts, justice of the peace courts, and municipal courts.
All of these courts permit jury trials and you could be summoned to serve in any of these courts. A criminal case results when a person, the defendant, is accused of committing a crime. By presenting evidence at trial, the state, represented by the district or county attorney, must prove that the defendant committed the charges "beyond a reasonable doubt.
A civil case results from a disagreement or dispute between two or more individuals or organizations. The party bringing the civil suit is the plaintiff. The party being sued is the defendant. Civil suits usually involve disagreements about money or property, and no criminal violations are involved.
In a civil case, you, as a juror, must answer questions of disputed facts based upon the testimony and evidence admitted by the Judge. The answers to these questions are called the verdict. While jury trials held in district court consist of 12 jurors, jury trials in county courts, probate courts, justice of the peace, and municipal courts consist of 6 jurors. To return a valid verdict in criminal trials, jurors must reach a unanimous verdict.
In civil trials, agreement of just five sixths of the jurors is sufficient to reach a valid verdict. Civil and criminal cases begin with the delivery of opening statements by the lawyers for the plaintiff and the defendant. Each lawyer will explain the case, their client's position, the evidence that they expect to present during the trial to support their claims and defenses, and the issues that you will be called upon to decide.
These statements are not evidence and should not be considered as such. After the opening statements, the parties will present the evidence to the jury. The evidence consists of the testimony of the witnesses and the exhibits presented and admitted at the trial.
These exhibits are also available to the jury for further examination during the jury deliberations. Since you will be asked to make your decisions based upon all of the evidence admitted during the trial, it is very important that you give the court your strict attention during the entire proceedings. The judge will also let you know whether you will be allowed to take notes during the trial. During the trial, the judge may need to address certain issues of law with the lawyers outside the presence of the jury.
As a result, the judge may occasionally ask the jurors to leave the courtroom to allow the lawyers to make their legal arguments. Remember that these periodic interruptions are important and necessary to ensure that the jury's verdict is based upon proper evidence, as determined by the judge under the Rules of Evidence. At the close of all the evidence, the judge will give the jury detailed instructions that identify the issues to be determined and the applicable laws in the case. The Charge of the Court will include a series of questions that the jury must answer after considering all of the evidence admitted during the trial.
Remember that while the judge determines issues of law, the jury must decide issues of fact and apply those facts to the law.
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