NCJ Number
88095
Journal
Court Review Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1983) Pages: 16-25
Date Published
1983
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Criminal trial juries are often given the impression by incorrect pattern jury instructions that their job is to determine guilt or innocence, although their true role is to determine if the prosecution has met its legal burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Abstract
Jury members must understand the legal definitions of the terms guilty, not guilty, and innocent, as well as beyond a reasonable doubt. While in lay usage the term 'not guilty' is often synonymous with 'innocent,' in American criminal jurisprudence they are not the same. 'Not guilty' is a legal finding by the jury that the prosecution has not met its burden of proof. A widely used source of pattern instructions for Federal criminal trials, 'Federal Jury Practice and Instructions,' compiled by Devitt and Blackmar, contains instructions on the role of a jury in a criminal trial that are hopelessly contradictory, inaccurate, and unclear. These instructions misstate the role of a jury in a criminal trial that are hopelessly contradictory, inaccurate, and unclear. These instructions misstate the role of the jury to be that of determining guilt or innocence. An examination of pattern jury instructions in the individual State courts reveals the same generic type of incorrect and confusing instructions in most of the States. If the jury misconceives its role, the prosecution benefits, since it is much easier for the prosecution to prove guilt than it is to prove not just guilt, but guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, the defense suffers from the jury's misconception of its role. To rectify these misunderstandings, the article recommends a statement to be incorporated into pattern jury instructions at the State and Federal level. A total of 56 notes are provided.