AJ 014 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Jury Nullification, Jury Trial, Model Penal Code

• School: College of The Sequoias
• Department: Administration of Justice (AJ)
• Course: AJ 014
• Professor: green

Document Summary

Jury nullification (5) when a jury seems to ignore some/all presented evidence and acquits anways; State v. ragland, 1986 (5) nj court holds that right to utilize jury nullification strategy is not an essential attribute of the right to a jury trial because it undermines the credibility of the system; Factors commonly used by juries that nullify: Degree of harm caused by the crime; Belief that the victim was partially at fault; Views on the morality/wisdom of the law at issue; Belief that defendant has been punished enough or mandatory sentence would be too high; Some belief framers wanted to allow jury nullification as a check on the potential tyranny of government; Critics point out that it has been used in the past to excuse rapists. Prosecutor has a discretionary right to refuse dismissal even when given proof of evidence, even if police want it dropped. You can file a pre-trial motion, but judge cannot make prosecutor drop.