Florida why only 6 jurors

Just this week, a jury of six was chosen. For most people, when we think of juries, we think of them as being comprised of twelve people. Indeed, for over years, juries in the English and American legal systems have been 12 people men, traditionally—which highlights another interesting aspect of this case with an all-female jury panel.

Defendants are constitutionally entitled to a fair cross-section of potential jurors, but that doesn't mean the people who are actually seated for the jury have to demonstrate that diversity, she said.

In Zimmerman's trial, all of the jurors were women — five of them white — and they ranged in age from 20s to 60s. Rozelle said even if the jury pool is ethnically diverse, a smaller panel lessens the likelihood of having other kinds of diversity.

Rozelle said if every juror on any panel has the same background, the same life experiences, and are the same demographic, they are likely going to view the facts the same. They may not see an alternative perspective because it simply didn't occur to them and they have no one to point it out, she said.

In some cases, the law professor said, "everyone agrees what the facts are, but they disagree bitterly on what those facts mean. If the trial is about truth seeking, it helps to have all possible interpretations of those facts considered. In the days since Zimmerman was acquitted, the Seminole County jurors who found him not guilty have faced sharp criticism from legal observers and others.

Some have questioned why there were no blacks on the jury because there were several in the pool that was culled from several hundred to 40 after a week of jury selection.

After one juror, known only as B, spoke out on CNN last week, saying race was not a consideration in deliberations, some critics said the homogeny of the panel led to a lack of empathy for the dead teenager. Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Vannoy , No.

It does not apply retroactively on federal collateral review. But with Ramos now requiring unanimous jurors at all State level felony trials, that same reasoning in Ramos should also now apply to requiring 12 jurors at all Florida felony jury trials. Briefly, Ramos held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial—as incorporated against the States by way of the Fourteenth Amendment—requires a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense. New Jersey , S.

If the twelve apostles on their twelve thrones must try us in our eternal state, good reason hath the law to appoint the number twelve to try us in our temporal. Many have sought to account for this general custom, and some have based it on religious grounds. Florida , 90 S. Whether reliance on such duodecuple [twelve] decision-making has only been based on a religious or cultural tradition of twelve or on some intuitive sense that a group of twelve is reliable is probably an unanswerable question.

Speedy Trial 3. Motions for rehearing 3. Notice of Alibi Discovery 3. Discovery Substitution of judge 3. Substitution of judge Change of venue Rule 3. Accused as witness 3. Right to Trial by Jury 3. Waiver of Jury Trial 3. Number of Jurors 3. Alternate Jurors 3. List of Prospective Jurors 3. Challenge to Panel 3. Time for Challenge 3. Exercise of Challenges 3. Manner of Challenge 3. Determination of Challenge for Cause 3. Effect of Sustaining Challenge 3.

Peremptory Challenges 3. Oath of Trial Jurors 3. Regulation and Separation of Jurors 3. Juror Questions of Witnesses 3.