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4 Fed. Juror 1 (1933)

handle is hein.journals/fjbfgj4 and id is 1 raw text is: Fewer and Better Laws THE FEDERAL JUROR Bulletin of the FEDERAL GRAND JURY ASSOCIATION Southern District of New York The Editor assomes no responsbity for the opinions costained in the articles, letters and contributions is the Eederal Juror VOLUME V JANUARY, 1933 NUMBER Less Than Unanimous Jury Verdicts O UGHT less -than - unanimous jury verdicts to be permitted? At the first glance the ques- tion seems a simple one. The re- trial of a case imposes a burden on the courts and on the litigant which it would be desirable to avoid. Most action of public bod- ies is decided by majority vote. If this is generally fair, why not in the case of a jury verdict, and thereby insure against the delay and expense of a new trial? But analysis develops many com- plications. Is the burden a serious one; how often does a jury dis- agree and a new trial result? to how many of these cases was three a reasonable difference of opinion among the jurors; in how many was the disagreement due to the obstinacy or unreasonableness of one or two men? If there was a reasonable difference of opinion, would a mere majority verdict be fair? If one party can only con- visne seven or eight of the jurors, and four or five are equally con- vinced by the other side, ought there not be a new trial? By Kenneth Dayton Chairman of the Conmrittee on Law Refor of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York To what extent does the rule of unanimity result in compromise verdicts which are unjust? It is generally bejeved that many unan- imous verdicts are rendered in which ten or eleven of the jurors would agree upon a particulor rea- sonable verdict, but the obtinacy of the remaining one or two forces an unfair compromise in order to reach a unanimous verdict. Best Judgment in Minority? On the other hand, it is also believed from experience that very frequently those members of the jury who best understand the case find themselves in the minority at the outset, and that the require- ment of unanimity assures the nec- essary opportunity for discussion and argument in the jury room which brings the majority to a bet- ter appreciation of the evidence and of the judge's charge, and ulti- mately changes their first snap judgment to a more reasonable view and leads to a fairer verdict. Unfortunately we are lacking in the statistics to answer some of the foregoing questions, and many of them by their nature are not sos- ceptible of statistical analysis. Ac- cordingly the answer to the princi- pal question must always remain more or less a matter of opinion. lYe can only tabulate the few known factors, and argue our per- sonal views on the remaining elements. Anyone interested in the prob- lem ought to study the one com- prehensive report on the question of which I know, by a committee of the Federation of Bar Associa- tions of Western New York, under the chairmanship of Marion H. Fisher, Esq., submitted to the an- nual meeting of the Federation in June, 1931. The very fact that this report is so comprehensive and complete makes it impossible even to summarize it in an article of this scope, and I can only refer very briefly to a few of the salient ANNUA L M EETING of the FEDERAL GRAND JURY ASSOCIATION will be held on Thursday, January 19th, 1933, at 4:00 P. M. at the BAR ASSOCIATION, 36 WEST 44th STREET, NEW YORK, N. Y. Among the prominent speakers who will address the meeting will be CAPTAIN RICHARD PEARSON HOBSON, President of the World Narcotic Defense Association All Federal Grand Jurors are urged to attend this important meeting. - ~- JANUARY 1 9, 1933

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