Jury Verdicts

Need a discussion post done on Jury Verdicts please.

I need a discussion post done please. At least 1 page. No plagiarism. APA cited

Jury Verdicts

Competency Addressed in This Discussion

• Competency 1: Articulate how the rules of criminal procedure apply to a criminal justice practitioner.

Introduction

In our criminal justice system, defendants have the right to a trial by jury. This right is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, specifically, the 6th Amendment. While the Constitution does set forth requirements as to the size of the jury, it does not require that the jury reach a unanimous verdict. A non-unanimous verdict is a verdict by a jury that is not the result of a unanimous vote. In Apodaca v. Oregon, the Supreme Court held that a 10-to-2 vote for conviction is constitutional. In Johnson v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court held that a 9-to-3 vote for conviction was constitutional. Given the defendant’s right to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the lack of requirement for a unanimous verdict may beg the question as to whether it is appropriate to allow majority verdicts rather than unanimous verdicts.

Instructions

For this discussion, consider the fact that the Supreme Court has discarded the argument that a less-than-unanimous verdict violates the reasonable doubt standard, stating that the term reasonable doubt refers to the individual juror and not the entire jury.

In your main post:

• Explore whether all criminal trials should require unanimous verdicts, using a related case as the basis for your position.
• Articulate two practical issues that might arise under unanimous verdict requirements.
• Describe the implications of non-unanimous jury verdicts as a criminal justice professional.

Discussion Objectives

The competency addressed in this discussion is supported by discussion objectives, as follows:

• Competency 1: Articulate how the rules of criminal procedure apply to a criminal justice practitioner.
  • Explore whether all criminal trials should be required to have unanimous verdicts.
  • Articulate potential practical issues that might arise under unanimous verdict requirements.
  • Describe the implications of non-unanimous jury verdict

Answer preview

It is not right for one to set a standard of unanimous verdicts for all the criminal trials. The main issue is that juries are made up of people from various areas, and the result is that they often have differing views relating to one thing. In the case of Apodaca v. Oregon, it was decided that there is no need for a unanimous verdict for one to be convicted of s criminal crime…

(400 words)