• RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Knowing about jury nullification is grounds to get you off the jury. Juries are already instructed they have that choice (in different words)

      • Tramort@programming.dev
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        6 days ago

        It’s enough to get you excluded from the jury, but if you are already chosen you deserve to be told explicitly: you can nullify this prosecution if you think it is wrongful

        • helloworld55@lemm.ee
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          6 days ago

          This is jury tampering. As long as violence is not involved, it is only a misdemeanor punishable by a $1000 fine in my state

          • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            Ew, I totally would never crowdfund for that kind of behavior. We should share it around if anything so depraved were ever to surface so we never accidentally support doing such things. Despicable.

        • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          Every legal mind has been very clear that jurors should not be told about it; people who know about nullification explicitly rely more on their feelings than evidence and are more easily fooled by sympathetic defendants and vice versa. Nullification works both ways, you could convinct without reasonable doubt or evidence, which is also not black and white.

          Nullification exists simply because jurors can’t be prosecuted for getting it wrong, so they can do whatever they want. But if you join intending to nullify, you technically commited purgery when you swore to “uphold the law”. It’s a very grey area because we technically want jurors to make informed and fair decisions, not selfish ones. Courts have been clear it shouldn’t be explicitly mentioned, but they also haven’t banned it because they believe in the idea of everyone coming to the conclusion the law doesn’t apply/he isn’t guilty of the crime despite clearly doing the thing, rather than declaring him “guilty without punishment”. It would be difficult to ban or make a law against this too. They’re just saying the law doesn’t apply in this case which is reasonable.

          Of course in the case of luigi I would totally agree with them letting him walk, but nullification is a fragile thing, especially for those who need to be told directly they have that power. Plus, luigi will at best get a reduced sentence like in crimes of “passion” or for being in a crisis, he likely isn’t going to walk.

          Edit: I think we can get banned for discussing this, i don’t know anymore.

          • Tramort@programming.dev
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            6 days ago

            Interesting points. I would argue that it can’t be perjury if you swore your oath before you knew about nullification.

            • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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              6 days ago

              Simple. If ever questioned after by a judge:

              “When asked if I knew about jury nullification, you must understand. I personally believe the only way to know something is to experience it firsthand. And so before, I did not know about jury nullification. Now, NOW your honor. NOW I know about jury nullification.”

            • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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              6 days ago

              I agree!

              Telling others to not uphold the law can probably get you in trouble too so it would be hard to convince others. It could work (both ways) if everyone is told after the oath, and they all individually decide to do it.

            • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              Nullification is not a law. It’s a hole in the law of 2 other laws

              • juries can’t get in trouble for making the wrong choice
              • can’t be tried twice for the same crime.
              • elephantium@lemmy.world
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                5 days ago

                the wrong choice

                Some subtleties there…what is the “wrong” choice?

                If it’s “the verdict doesn’t match what the defendant did” - well, we don’t always know for sure. If it’s “the verdict isn’t what I would have said” - hey, everybody likes to armchair quarterback. It’s still up to the jury, though.

                • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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                  5 days ago

                  There’s no subtlety. If it was later found out he was actually guilty but the jurors cut him loose, he cant be tried again and the jurors can’t get in trouble for not finding him guilty when he was (and they would have found him guilty had they known). They couldn’t have known, it’s just common sense to not prosecute them.

                  There’s also no armchair quarterback, thats not what that means. In none of my comments am i specifying what I would have done in either persons position from my armchair. I’m just stating facts about the law. (Not giving advice either).

                  Theres subtlety in jury nullification, but not in the jurors immunity. It comes from multiple laws and has precedence.

                  1. Tanner v. United States, 483 U.S. 107 (1987) – The Supreme Court reaffirmed that juror deliberations are generally protected from inquiry, ensuring that jurors cannot be punished for their reasoning or decisions.
                  1. United States v. Dougherty, 473 F.2d 1113 (D.C. Cir. 1972) – This case discusses jury nullification, reinforcing that jurors have the right to acquit regardless of the evidence and cannot be penalized for doing so.
                  1. Rule 606(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence – This rule limits the ability to challenge a verdict based on jurors’ thought processes during deliberation, further shielding them from liability.
                  • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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                    5 days ago

                    Do you agree that jury nullification is a part of the law? Why would they only uphold specific laws and not all of it? I might be misunderstanding you.

      • Dragon Rider (drag)@lemmy.nz
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        6 days ago

        Breaking news: courts unable to find jurors for Mangione case after citizens informed how the law works

        Sounds like a plan.