What are the Advantages of a Jury Trial?

Question

In the world there are two types of criminal trials i.e., Jury Trials and Trials by the Judge. Which one do you prefer and why? What are the advantages of a Jury Trial over a Court in which only the Judge determines questions of facts as well?

Answer 1

As with most things in life, this is also a double edged sword. If you take a bench trial, your time is considerably less if found guilty.

The main advantage of a jury trial is that the entire jury of 1 must be unanimous in their decision of guilt. Remember the basic premise of our judicial system is a trial by a jury of your peers and the prosecution must prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" for conviction.

The disadvantage of a jury trial is that if you lose, you are looking at being maxed out in the time the Judge will assess at sentencing.

Basically, this would be decision that only YOU should make for yourself based on your own innocence or guily.

Best of luck and I hope this is useful to you

Answer 2

I think it depends on the situation. A Bench Trial can be better because the judge can sentence you the time. Meaning 11 1/2-23 months. You will get the minimum if you are facing 10 years the judge can sentence you that much time.

If you choose a jury trial and loose they can sentence you the maximum time.

Answer 3

In a jury trial, you only have to convince one dopey S.O.B, out of 12, that you might not be guilty.