1. Grand jury. A grand jury is the jury that decides whether a criminal offense should be prosecuted. Grand juries generally consist of 16 to 23 people, and their terms range from one month, six months, or one year, but the longest cannot exceed 18 months. A grand jury can review several cases during its term. The grand jury only reviews evidence presented by prosecutors. During this process, the defendant has no right to question witnesses and provide evidence in his favor. The review is held in secret and even the defendants' lawyers are not allowed to attend. After review, it will be decided whether to continue the investigation and whether to approve the criminal indictment proposed by the prosecutor.
2.Small jury. A petit jury refers to a jury selected in accordance with legal provisions to judge the facts in a judicial trial. The small jury consists of 6 to 12 people, elected from the general public. During the trial, under the guidance of the judge, the testimony of both the prosecution and the defense is listened to from beginning to end, the evidence of both parties is checked, and then the defendant is judged guilty or innocent based on the defendant's own life experience and common sense as well as the legal provisions provided by the judge. Juries and judges each have their own duties and responsibilities. The jury determines the facts of the case, and the judge applies the law based on the facts determined by the jury. That is, the jury is responsible for determining whether the defendant is guilty, and the judge is responsible for sentencing based on the jury's determination of guilt.
3. Selection of jury members. The process of selecting jury members is complex. First, the judge's clerk randomly draws a list of candidates from the local voter registration book, and the judge determines the number of candidates for the jury based on the facts of the case. After these people were selected, the court sent a notice to each person, requiring them to report to the court on a certain day and undergo screening. We were in the courtroom watching the jury selection process. The case that was heard was a case of obstructing official business. There are about 40 candidates and 12 jurors are selected to form a jury. A judge presided over the screening, and he randomly selected 12 jurors from these candidates. The prosecutor and the defendant's lawyer asked them questions in turn to determine whether they were interested in the case, whether they were biased, and whether they were qualified to serve on the jury. Because neither the prosecutor nor the lawyer eliminated potential jurors, this screening went quickly and ended in less than an hour. If prosecutors and lawyers believe that a potential juror is biased and cannot get a fair trial through questioning, they can ask the court to exclude the potential juror. Through this screening method, 12 jurors were selected to form a jury to hear the case. The work of the Jury is compulsory and compulsory and does not receive any remuneration. The court only provides them with necessary living and transportation guarantees. After the jury is selected, in order to ensure that the defendant receives a fair trial and prevent outside interference and influence, closure and isolation may be implemented when necessary.
The jury's verdict must be unanimous, but some states also stipulate that only an overwhelming majority can pass. If the jury size is 12, more than 10 must agree; if the jury consists of six members, five members must agree unanimously. But for capital cases, all states that retain the death penalty now require a unanimous jury vote. Normally, the jury will reach a consensus after discussion. If the jury members cannot reach a consensus after sufficient discussion, procedurally speaking, the judge will dismiss the jury and then reorganize the jury for a trial.
The goal of the American jury system is to introduce the social supervision system into judicial trial practice and achieve judicial democracy and judicial fairness. Judging from the development trend, although the American judicial circle and the public have different opinions on the survival and abolition of the jury system, we feel that the jury system will continue to exist for a long time to come.
Judgments are based on the Constitution and precedents.