The jury system in criminal trials We still use juries to determine the guilt or innocence of a defendant in a criminal trial. Members of the general public can be called to do jury duty. Their task is to listen to the evidence presented in court before giving their verdict.

DID YOU KNOW Western Australian defence lawyer Malcolm McCusker QC launched an attack on the jury system saying: ‘If you were charged with a crime and were innocent, would you like your fate to be decided by 12 people, chosen at random by lot, not qualified or experienced in assessing evidence, and with no legal training? And who give no reasons for their decision, so that if they found you guilty, it would be extremely difficult to appeal?’ Do you agree?

A jury is a group of ordinary men and women who are selected to sit in court for the duration of a trial and hear the evidence brought against the accused. They should have no knowledge of the facts of the case before the trial commences and must determine, beyond reasonable doubt, on the basis of the facts, whether the defendant (the accused) is guilty or not guilty. A jury is required in criminal cases where an indictable offence has occurred and the defendant has pleaded not guilty. If the defendant pleads guilty, a jury will not be used and the judge will determine the sentence. Juries are not used in the Magistrates' Court but are used in the county and supreme courts.

If you are on the electoral roll, you could be asked to do jury duty. This mechanic could be called up for jury duty. Juries should represent a cross-section of the community. It is considered to be a civic responsibility for all of us.

DID YOU KNOW Serving on a jury can be traumatic. In 2011 jurors in the Arthur Freeman trial were offered counselling at the end of the trial. Freeman was notorious for throwing his 4-year-old daughter off the West Gate Bridge. Jurors in the trial of Matthew Johnson were warned that a prison video of Johnson bashing Carl Williams with a metal bar eight times was graphic. Johnson's lawyer said ‘It's real, it's not TV, it's not a movie’.

Jury duty You may at some stage in your life be called up to do jury duty. The following hypothetical case study will give you some insight into this experience. YOU'RE ON … THE JURY The news headlines of the day say that a coach has raped a Year 7 student. Everywhere you look you see the coach's face. You first see his face in the newspapers and then on television as he ducks for cover pulling his jumper over his head to avoid the media cameras while walking into the Magistrates' Court for the committal proceedings. You hear interviews on the television, people who knew the coach, who had an unblemished record, shaking their heads in disbelief. Radio reports provide you with the latest snatches of information and the coach's lawyer makes a statement to the media.

You arrive home from work one evening and find an official- looking envelope that contains a jury eligibility questionnaire. Eager and interested to take part in jury service you fill in the questionnaire. There is no reason such as advanced age, health or distance that would excuse you from taking part. You will not be disqualified from jury duty because you have not been convicted of an offence, gone to jail or been declared bankrupt, for example. The ineligibility categories for jurors also do not apply to you as you are not a police officer, lawyer or judge and do not suffer from a physical or intellectual disability, making you incapable of attending jury duty. Months later you receive another official letter from the Juries Commissioner's Office summoning you to appear in court. You are picked from a large group of potential jurors known as a jury pool, to be a juror on the rape case involving the coach you have already seen and heard about.

You are shocked at the responsibility of deciding someone's guilt or innocence, because your decision may result in the defendant going to jail. You quickly make arrangements with your workplace and note you will be given an allowance of $39 per day if you attend the court trial for six days or less. If the trial continues past six days you will receive $78 a day for any time up to 12 months, but hope the case will not take that long. Your employer will make up the difference in your wages so you will not lose your income as a result of doing jury duty.

Empanelling the jury A criminal jury consists of 12 people who have been randomly chosen from the state's electoral roll. Sometimes, however, in large trials, 15 jurors will be empanelled (formally selected) to form a jury to ensure that, at the end of the trial, there are at least 12 jurors who can return a verdict. When selecting a jury, both parties are allowed to challenge potential members of the jury. In cases that involve only one defendant, each side is given six peremptory challenges. A peremptory challenge means that the potential juror is not required on this particular jury and no reason need be given. If either party has exhausted the peremptory challenges, that party still can challenge a potential juror, but must provide the court with an adequate reason (referred to as ‘for cause’ challenges ).

Trial by one's peers is thought to be the fairest way to decide a case. Juries are said to reflect community values, therefore their decisions may be more easily accepted than if one person was deciding the outcome of the case alone.

APPLY your understanding 4.) Why do you think it is important that some people are disqualified from jury service? 6.) Refer to the case study ‘You're on … the jury’. If you were selected for jury duty in this case, do you think you might consciously or subconsciously have an unfair bias towards the coach? If so, why might this be the case?