Jury Service - Day Three ... Crime and Punishment

Last night, I was musing on what would happen today - i.e. we the jury would retire to consider our verdict.

There are two levels of surety juries must have - either beyond all reasonable doubt and the balance of probabilities. In our case, we were asked to decide beyond all reasonable doubt whether or not the defendent was guilty.

It got me thinking ... the decision that the 12 of us were going to make today would affect the defendent (for good or bad). In a relatively minor case the affect would be similarly minor, plus the possibility of a criminal record which is not so minor I guess.
However, say I lived in America and I was on a murder trial. My decision then could have a very major and potentially terminal affect on the defendent's life. How you react to that depends very much on your view on the death penalty. Personally, I think it is abhorrent.

No justice system is completely infallible. Even if one believed beyond reasonable doubt that the defendent was guilty, that little doubt would surely run around one's head screaming "what if you're wrong?!". If wrong, an innocent person could be murdered by the state.

I don't believe in an eye for an eye. Our system of fines, probation, community service, custodial sentences is far from perfect but it would be inconceivable to me for my taxes to be used by the government to murder my fellow citizens. The government and ultimately the country is then tarnished by the same crime as that committed by the defendent in my view.

Apologies for that rant/digression. Back to today ...

This morning, we heard the Judge's summing up and legal instructions. We then retired to consider our verdict. I think it went very smoothly - we elected our foreman; everyone said their two-penneth, raised concerns, asked questions, etc; we argued a few points out for while; then we took a vote and we were unanimous first time.

We went back into court and gave our verdict. What happened next was interesting as the Judge consulted with the defence and the prosecution as to what they though was the best course of action. It was quite interesting to listen. The judge turned to us and explained why the discussion was taking place. He then addressed the defendent and explained what was happening.

The judge was very nice - he spoke to us afterwards thanking us for the job that we'd done, saying that he put a high value on the jury system in this country and felt that our contribution to the process of justice was very important.

As we walked out there was also an unspoken word of thanks in the form of a discreet smile on one of the barrister's faces.

Back to waiting.