Jury tampering
Encyclopedia
Jury tampering is the crime
of unduly attempting to influence the composition and/or decisions of a jury
during the course of a trial
.
The means by which this crime could be perpetrated can include attempting to discredit potential jurors to ensure they will not be selected for duty. Once selected, jurors could be bribed or intimidated to act in a certain manner on duty. It could also involve making unauthorized contact with them for the purpose of introducing prohibited outside information and then arguing for a mistrial.
, the Criminal Justice Act 2003
allows for non-jury trials when there is danger of jury tampering, or where jury tampering has taken place. On 18 June 2009, the Court of Appeal in England and Wales
made a landmark ruling that resulted in the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, allowing the first-ever criminal trial to be held without a jury
by invoking Section 44 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003
. The case in question involved four men accused of an armed robbery at Heathrow Airport in February 2004. After three juries either failed to reach verdicts or were discharged, the fourth trial of the case took place before a single judge, and ended on 31 March 2010 with guilty verdicts for all four accused.
Levels of jury tampering were reported in 2003 to be "worryingly high" in Merseyside
by the then Chief Constable Norman Bettison
and the then Home Secretary David Blunkett
.
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
of unduly attempting to influence the composition and/or decisions of a jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
during the course of a trial
Trial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
.
The means by which this crime could be perpetrated can include attempting to discredit potential jurors to ensure they will not be selected for duty. Once selected, jurors could be bribed or intimidated to act in a certain manner on duty. It could also involve making unauthorized contact with them for the purpose of introducing prohibited outside information and then arguing for a mistrial.
United Kingdom
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the Criminal Justice Act 2003
Criminal Justice Act 2003
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a wide ranging measure introduced to modernise many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Northern Ireland....
allows for non-jury trials when there is danger of jury tampering, or where jury tampering has taken place. On 18 June 2009, the Court of Appeal in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
made a landmark ruling that resulted in the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, allowing the first-ever criminal trial to be held without a jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
by invoking Section 44 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003
Criminal Justice Act 2003
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a wide ranging measure introduced to modernise many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Northern Ireland....
. The case in question involved four men accused of an armed robbery at Heathrow Airport in February 2004. After three juries either failed to reach verdicts or were discharged, the fourth trial of the case took place before a single judge, and ended on 31 March 2010 with guilty verdicts for all four accused.
Levels of jury tampering were reported in 2003 to be "worryingly high" in Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
by the then Chief Constable Norman Bettison
Norman Bettison
Sir Norman George Bettison, QPM is a British police officer and the current Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.-Education:...
and the then Home Secretary David Blunkett
David Blunkett
David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
.
Cases of jury tampering
- James Riddle "Jimmy" HoffaJimmy HoffaJames Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
, a trade union leader, was convicted of jury tampering in 1964. - The former West Virginia Governor, William Wallace BarronWilliam Wallace BarronWilliam Wallace "Wally" Barron was a Democratic machine politician in West Virginia. He was the state's 26th Governor from 1961 to 1965. He later served a prison term due to his corrupt actions....
was convicted of jury tampering in 1971. - In 2007, an attempt to bribe a juror in a case investigating cigarette smuggling in Northern IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
led to the retrial being heard by a judge sitting alone, the first such ruling.
In fiction
- The John GrishamJohn GrishamJohn Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
book The Runaway JuryThe Runaway JuryThe Runaway Jury is a legal thriller novel written by American author John Grisham. The hardcover first edition was published by Doubleday Books in 1996 . Pearson Longman released the graded reader edition in 2001 . The novel was published again in 2003 to coincide with the release of Runaway...
and the film adaptation Runaway JuryRunaway JuryRunaway Jury is a 2003 American drama/thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz...
both depict jury tampering. - The JurorThe JurorThe Juror is a 1996 American romantic thriller film based on the novel by George Dawes Green, directed by Brian Gibson and starring Demi Moore as Annie Laird, a single mother picked for jury duty for a mafia trial. The film was released on 2 February 1996...
is a 1996 film which depicts jury tampering, as does the novel by George Dawes GreenGeorge Dawes GreenGeorge Dawes Green is an American novelist and the founder of the storytelling organization The Moth. Green published his first novel, The Caveman's Valentine, in 1994, and it was adapted into a film starring Samuel L. Jackson. He quickly followed that success with The Juror, also adapted into a...
on which it was based. - In Season 2 Episode 10 of Hot in ClevelandHot in ClevelandHot in Cleveland is an American sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White. The series, which is TV Land's first original scripted series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highest rated telecast in the cable network's 14-year history. The...
Elka Ostrovsky tampered with Juror No. 8 but he forgot and she was said to be guilty - In the jury ITV drama a juror, Paul, is brought evidence by a former jury member on the case (the case is in retrial) she turns out to not be a jury member as she claimed and is the victims sister.
External links
- Criminal Justice Act 2003. Chapter 44, Part 7. Trials on indictment without a jury
- What is 'jury tampering'?. Videojug.