Level 4-Day 82.Trial By Jury

词汇提示

1.summoned 传唤

2.penalties 惩罚的

3.registering 登记注册

4.panel 咨询组

5.prosecution 控诉

6.burglary 入室盗窃罪

7.approximately 大约

8.attorney 律师

9.insinuate 暗示

10.swayed 摇摆

11.civil suit 民事诉讼

12.preponderance 多数

原文

Trial By Jury

If you are a citizen of Canada or the United States, it is very likely that you will be summoned at some time for jury duty.

A letter will come in the mail, telling you to report to a certain place at a given time.

There are legal penalties for not attending, because jury duty is considered every citizen's responsibility.

Often a large number of people, perhaps several hundred, will be summoned at onetime.

When you arrive, you will join a line-up of others who are registering for duty.

Eventually,you will get to a table and talk to an official.

If you have a special reason for not being a juror, such as ill health, you may be excused at this point.

Those not immediately exempted become a part of a "jury panel."

Out of this panel, a number of juries of twelve people will be chosen.

These will decide a variety of criminal cases over the next few weeks.

What follows is the experience of one woman in a "jury pool."

She went with the others into a large courtroom where they spent the whole day.

At the front of the courtroom were the judge, and the lawyers for the prosecution and for the defense.

One of the lawyers explained what the case was going to be about.

The names of the jury panel were in a box at the front.

When someone's name was called, they went up to the front of the courtroom.

The person called up would then have a chance to explain why they couldn't serve as a juror, if there was some reason preventing them.

For example, one woman was dismissed because she knew the accused.

The first jury to be chosen was for a burglary case.

A panel member went forward and faced the accused.

Then the lawyers in the trial decided whether the juror was satisfactory to them.

At lunchtime, the panel was dismissed for an hour.

The second jury was to try someone on a charge of murder.

Usually the panel was told approximately how long the trial might be.

Since jurors are not usually paid, many would like to avoid being involved in a long trial.

The woman was called forward and had to look the man accused of murder in the eye.

This made her quite nervous.

Judging by her expression, the two lawyers would decide whether they wanted her on the jury or not.

The defense lawyer would try to choose someone who seemed sympathetic to the man accused.

The prosecutor would prefer someone who was not sympathetic.

The woman excused herself by saying that she had a very young child to look after and no relatives to help.

She was allowed to go home at the end of the day.

Some people wonder whether it is fair for lawyers to dismiss jurors who may not be sympathetic to their cases.

For example, defense lawyers may try to choose young people if they think that these will be less severe to their clients.

In the case above, the lawyer seemed to prefer women to men.

This means that a lot of people are dismissed from being jurors without a good reason.

One principle of the jury system, however, is to protect the rights of the accused particularly well.

One might say that the jury system is biased in favor of the defendant.

This is why defense lawyers have an opportunity to dismiss people who they think will not be favorable to their clients.

Furthermore,having twelve jurors gives the defense good opportunity for a successful defense.

If the defense attorney can raise a reasonable doubt about the guilt of his client in even one juror, then the accused has a chance of being released.

This happened in the O. J. Simpson murder trial.

There,even though there was strong evidence that Simpson committed the crime, the defense was able to insinuate some doubts among the jurors.

Moreover,the defense lawyers may be able to appeal to the emotions of the jurors, particularly if they can think of a way to gain sympathy for their client.

For this reason, defense lawyers are more likely to choose trial by jury over trial by judge alone.

A judge is less likely to be swayed by emotion than a jury.

And a defense attorney may also prefer a criminal trial to a civil suit.

In the latter case, the client does not have to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt but will be found liable if the preponderance of evidence is against him or her.

This is why O.J. Simpson was acquitted on criminal charges, but then found liable for damages in a civil suit.

翻译

陪审团审判

如果你是加拿大或美国公民，你很可能会在某个时候被传唤履行陪审团义务。
邮件中会有一封信，让你在特定的时间到特定的地点报到。
由于陪审义务被认为是每个公民的责任，因此不参加陪审会受到法律处罚。
通常一次会召集大量的人，可能有几百人。
当你到达时，你将加入一排正在登记值班的人。
最后，你会坐到一张桌子前，和一位官员交谈。
如果你有特殊原因不能担任陪审员，比如身体不好，你可以在这一点上被原谅。
那些没有立即获得豁免的人成为“陪审团”的一部分。
从这个小组中，将选出12人组成的陪审团。
他们将在未来几周内对各种刑事案件作出裁决。
以下是一位女性在“陪审团池”中的经历。
她和其他人一起走进一个大法庭，在那里度过了一整天。
站在法庭前面的是法官，以及控方和辩方的律师。
其中一位律师解释了这个案子的内容。
陪审团的名字在前面的一个盒子里。
当有人叫到名字时，他们就走到法庭前面。
被召唤的人将有机会解释为什么他们不能担任陪审员，如果有什么原因阻止他们。
例如，一名妇女因认识被告而被解雇。
选出的第一个陪审团是一起入室盗窃案。
一名陪审团成员走上前去面对被告。
然后律师们在审判中决定陪审员是否令他们满意。
午餐时，小组休息一小时。
第二个陪审团要审判一个被控谋杀的人。
通常陪审团会被告知审判大概需要多长时间。
由于陪审员通常没有报酬，许多人希望避免卷入旷日持久的审判。
那个女人被叫到前面，不得不正视那个被控谋杀的男人。
这使她很紧张。
根据她的表情，两位律师将决定是否让她加入陪审团。
辩护律师会尽量选择一个似乎同情被告的人。
公诉人会选择不同情他的人。
那位妇女为自己辩解说，她有一个很小的孩子要照顾，没有亲戚可以帮忙。
她被允许在一天结束时回家。
一些人怀疑律师解雇那些可能对他们的案件不感兴趣的陪审员是否公平。
例如，辩护律师可能会选择年轻人，如果他们认为这些人对他们的客户不那么严重。
在上面的案例中，律师似乎更喜欢女人而不是男人。
这意味着很多人在没有充分理由的情况下就被解雇了。
然而，陪审制度的一个原则是特别保护被告的权利。
有人可能会说陪审团制度偏向于被告。
这就是为什么辩护律师有机会解雇那些他们认为对他们的客户不利的人。
此外，有12名陪审员为辩方提供了成功辩护的好机会。
如果辩护律师能对其当事人的有罪提出合理的怀疑，哪怕只有一名陪审员，那么被告就有机会被释放。
这发生在o.j.辛普森谋杀案的审判中。
在那里，即使有强有力的证据表明辛普森犯了罪，辩方还是能够在陪审员中引起一些怀疑。
此外，辩护律师可能会吸引陪审员的情绪，特别是如果他们能想到一种方法来获得对他们的当事人的同情。
出于这个原因，辩护律师更有可能选择陪审团审判而不是法官单独审判。
法官不像陪审团那样容易受情绪影响。
辩护律师也可能更喜欢刑事审判而不是民事诉讼。
在后一种情况下，当事人不必在排除合理怀疑的情况下被证明有罪，但如果证据优势对他或她不利，则应被判有罪。
这就是为什么O.J.辛普森在刑事指控中被判无罪，但在民事诉讼中却被判负有损害赔偿责任。