UNIT 29

► Ex. I. Scan through the text. Restore the word order in the questions that follow and answer them.

Jury is a group of laymen who participate in deciding cases brought to trial. These laymen are recruited at random from the widest population for the trial of a particular case. They are allowed to deliberate in secrecy, to reach a decision, and to make it public without giving reasons. Throughout its history, it has been both overpraised as a charter of liberty and overcriticized as a reliance on incompetent amateurs in the administration of justice. Most jurisdictions exempt some groups from jury service: police officers, lawyers and doctors. All jurisdictions excuse jurors if the service imposes undue hardship. The commitment of important decisions to a random group of laypersons are moderated by an elaborate screening, voir dire, which is conducted by trial counsel before a trial. The law permits counsel to challenge prospective jurors either for cause (challenge for cause), if there is specific likelihood of bias or, for a limited number, to challenge them without having to give a reason (peremptory challenge). Criminal cases are brought by the state against a person or persons accused of having committed a crime. The state is called the plaintiff; the accused person is called the defendant. The charge against the defendant is called a complaint. The defendant pleads not guilty and the jury should presume the defendant's innocence throughout the entire trial unless the plaintiff proves that the defendant is guilty. In criminal cases the verdict must be unanimous, that is, all jurors (traditionally 12) must agree that the defendant is guilty in order to overcome the presumption of innocence. When they cannot agree on a verdict (termed a hung jury in the United States), the judge declares a mistrial, which means the case must be tried anew.