A jury trial or trial by jury is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact. This is called a verdict. The judge usually follows the jury's verdict in his ruling. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges make all decisions.
History
William the Conqueror brought to the Brits a system of having witnesses who had any knowledge of a crime, tell the court what they knew.[1] They did this after first swearing an oath. The word juror in English comes from the Frenchjurer (to swear).[1] In the 12th century juries were used by the king to discover and present facts.[1] Usually this was in answer to questions posed by the king or his ministers who made the final decision in the case.[1] Eventually this led to a system where the jury made a verdict based on evidence.[2] In the late colonial period, juries became a tool used to express American discontent with British rule. A series of Navigation Acts prohibited the American colonies from trading directly with the Netherlands, Spain, France, and their colonies.[2] As more and more trade restriction were imposed, the American colonists turned to smuggling.[2] When smugglers were caught, they were brought before juries made up of other colonists. These sympathetic juries often acquitted their fellow colonists.[2] The king, angered at these lawbreakers going free, created new courts that did not allow juries.[2] This was a breach of common law practice and infringed on their rights as British citizens. After the Revolutionary war, the Seventh Amendment's right to a jury trial was written to limit the powers of the executive and the Judicial branches of the new federal government.[2]
