What are the two types of juries and what does each do?

• – Trial Jury. Also referred to as a Petit jury, a trial jury consists of 6 -12 people. A trial jury decides the verdict in a criminal case. ...
• – Civil jury. A civil jury usually has less than 12 jurors. ...
• – Grand jury. A grand jury sits in federal criminal cases and is made up of 16 – 23 people.

What are the two types of challenges in voir dire?

During voir dire the lawyers may ask the judge to excuse a juror from sitting on the case. This is called "challenging a juror". There are two types of challenges: a challenge for cause and a peremptory challenge.

What does voir dire literally mean?

French for "to speak the truth." The process through which potential jurors from the venire are questioned by either the judge or a lawyer to determine their suitability for jury service. Also the preliminary questioning of witnesses (especially experts) to determine their competence to testify.

What is the difference between a regular jury and a grand jury?

A trial jury will only hear evidence pertaining to one defendant. The most important difference between the two is that a grand jury decides if someone should be charged, but a trial jury decides if someone is guilty. For this, a grand jury only needs probable cause to return an indictment.

What are the 2 types of cases heard in a courtroom?

The district courts can hear most federal cases, including civil and criminal cases.

What are the two types of cases courts?

There are two kinds of court cases: civil and criminal. "Civil" cases are the cases in court that aren't about breaking a criminal law (called a violation of criminal law). There are many different kinds of cases in Civil Court.

What are the two basic functions of trial courts?

The trial court's basic work is to resolve disputes by determining the facts and applying legal principles to decide who is right. The appellate court's work is to decide whether the law was applied correctly in the trial court, and in some cases, whether the law is Constitutional.

What's the difference between jury trial and bench trial?

The key difference between a bench trial and a jury trial is whether or not there is a jury to decide the outcome of the case or whether a judge makes a decision. In all civil court cases, including those in which a jury makes a decision, a judge must preside over the case.

What are the differences between a jury trial vs bench trial?

The most obvious difference between a jury trial and a bench trial is who makes the final decision. In a jury trial, the jury decides the defendant's guilt or innocence, while in a bench trial, the judge makes that decision.

What is the difference in the jury systems?

There are two main types: the petit (or trial) jury and the grand jury. A petit jury decides the verdict in a court trial, in either a civil or criminal case. A grand jury decides whether someone should be brought to trial on criminal charges.

What is the difference between a jury and a grand jury quizlet?

Whats the difference between a jury and a grand jury? A jury listens to the evidence and gives a verdict, and a grand jury listens to the charges against a suspect and evidence to decide whether or not its enough to bring to trial.

What is one major difference between a grand jury and a trial jury quizlet?

A grand jury is different from a trial jury because a trial jury has judge or judges makes all decisions. A grand jury usually has twenty-three people that agree on the decisions.

What are the two main types of law in most courts today?

As lawyers know, legal systems in countries around the world generally fall into one of two main categories: common law systems and civil law systems. There are roughly 150 countries that have what can be described as primarily civil law systems, whereas there are about 80 common law countries.

What type of cases are heard by a petit jury?

Petit Jury: A petit jury is a trial jury for both civil and criminal cases. The petit jury listens to evidence offered during a trial and returns a verdict. A verdict in a civil case may be a finding for the plaintiff or for the defendant. A verdict in a criminal case finds the defendant guilty or not guilty.

What is the list of cases to be heard by a court called?

Docket: A list of cases scheduled to be heard in court on a specific day or week.

What is a grand jury simplified?

grand jury, in Anglo-American law, a group that examines accusations against persons charged with crime and, if the evidence warrants, makes formal charges on which the accused persons are later tried. Through the grand jury, laypersons participate in bringing suspects to trial.

Which is a job of a grand jury?

While grand juries are sometimes described as performing accusatory and investigatory functions, the grand jury's principal function is to determine whether or not there is probable cause to believe that one or more persons committed a certain Federal offense within the venue of the district court.

What is a disadvantage of having a grand jury?

A constant criticism of the grand jury system is that the jurors lack legal knowledge, so they cannot decide if there is enough evidence for an indictment. One counter argument to this is that trial or petit jurors do not receive any formal training either (Hoffmeister, 2008).

What is it called when a jury Cannot reach a unanimous decision?

What Is a Hung Jury? In most jurisdictions, a unanimous jury decision is required for a verdict to be given, meaning all jurors must agree on whether the defendant is guilty or not. A hung jury, also known as a deadlocked jury, is a jury whose members are unable to agree on a verdict of guilty or not guilty.

What is voir dire in a nutshell?

Voir dire is the process used by the parties to select a fair and impartial jury. During voir dire, the jury panel is questioned by both parties' lawyers. The questions are intended to help the lawyers in the jury selection process. After voir dire, the jury is selected from the panel.

Why do they call it voir dire?

Etymology. From Anglo-Norman, literally “to speak the truth”, from Old French voir (“true; truly”) (from Latin vērus (“true”)) + dire (“to say”) (from Latin dīcere (“to speak; to say”)).