Types of cases a juror can serve on
- Civil: breach of contract or claims of harm (6-8 Jurors - verdicts do not have to be unanimous)
- Criminal: act allegedly committed as per the Criminal Code of Canada (12 Jurors at least)
- Both can be heard by a judge alone or judge and jury*
- Most highly serious criminal causes require both a jury and a judge
The Juries Act
Provincial and territorial legislation that outlines eligibility criteria for jury service
What factors cause you to be excused from jury duty in Ontario
- You are under 18
- Physically or mentally unable
- Have conflict of interest
- you are working in law enforcement
- you have been convicted of a criminal offense
- you are a judge, lawyer, or law student
- You are a member of senate, house of commons or the assembly
- You are a medical practitioner, vet surgeon or coroner
Jury Sommons
Court order that states a time and place to go for jury duty
- does not guarantee you will be a juror
- Legal penalties if you don’t show up
Elements that each compiled jury should have
- Representativeness: Composition represents the community in which the crime occurred as well as the defendant
- Impartiality: lack of bias within the jury
What does it mean to be impartial?
- St aside pre-existing biases and prejudices
- Ignore information that is not part of admissible evidence
- Have no connection to the defendant
R. v. Guess: lack of impartiality case
- Peter Gill was tried for 2 gang-style murders in 1995 in Vancouver
- Gillian Guess was a juror
- Gill and Guess ran into each other outside of court and started a sexual relationship that ran throughout the trial
- Both charged with obstruction of justice and found guilty
- Guess sentenced for 8 months and served 3
Challenge for cause
A request that prospective juror be dismissed due to specific or forceful reason to believe the person cannot be fair, unbiased, and capable of serving as a juror
R. v. Find: Impartiality sexual assault case
- Karl Find tried on 21 counts of sexual assault on child victims
- Defense proposed that potential jurors being challenged for cause based on their answer to 3 questions
- Judge dismissed the proposal
- When selecting jury, one man said “ i just don’t think I could separate myself from my feelings towards his children and separate the case” - he was removed by the defense, renewed proposal and dismissed again
The role of the Media in impartiality
Emotionally charged headlines can sway jury members. As negative pretrial publicity increases, so does;
- The likelihood of guilty verdicts
- Beliefs about deserved severity of sentence
- Beliefs about the suspect’s maliciousness
- Errors in jury members’ memory
-Discussions about information for the media within jury deliberations
* positive media pretrial has the opposite effect*
Male Jurors and Rape cases
- More likely to endorse rape myths (e.g. way women dress shows they want sex, lying about what happened to get ahead)
- Assign less responsibility to the accused and more responsibility to the accuser
- On these cases, want women> men
Jury Functions
- Apply the law, as provided by the judge, to the admissible evidence
- Use the wisdom of 12 to reach a verdict
- Act as a conscience to the community
Jury verdicts and race
- Mock jurors more likely to render guilty verdicts for ‘other-race’ defendants than for defendants of their own race
- Effect is small and can be reduced by making defendant’s race salient (discussion in court cues jury to set aside bias)
- May not be as influential for Canadian jurors (larger in US)
Authoritarianism
Conservative, rigid thinkers who acquiesce to authority
- Right-wing political views
Dogmatism
Rigid and close-minded
- No political undertones
How does authoritarianism and dogmatism effect rate of guilty verdicts
High authoritarianism and dogmatism render more guilty verdicts
Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory (CEST)
Information can be processed through two modes
Rational processing (R-processors): analysis of fact and logic - focus on hard evidence and harder to influence by biases
Experiential processing (E-processors): emotion and personal experiences - influenced by biases
What are some trends observed in convictions between E-processors and R-processors
- Both convict attractive defendants at similar rates
- E-processors are more likely to convict less-attractive defendants and deliver harsher sentences
