U.S. Court Proceedings: Jury Verdicts vs. Judgments of the Court - Assignment Example

Jury Verdicts v Judgments of the Court al Affiliation) During trial, the prosecution and the defense present their cases while also calling on witnesses to give testimony. The parties present evidence via reports, books, photographs, surveys and other documents. The jury is responsible for determining the facts of the case by analyzing and weighing the evidence presented before them. Therefore, the jury is responsible for finding the facts and a jury’s verdict is based on whether they agree with the facts presented before them in a court of law, or whether they disagree.

The judge is responsible for directing every legal decision and controlling the activities of the court. The judge deals with the court procedures like ruling on objections raised by legal counsel and on court motions. Essentially, the judgment of the court is heavily reliant on legal procedures and statutes of the law.The judgment of the court is the last part of a court case. It terminates court cases or resolves issues contested in court. By performing these duties, it is essentially the court’s formal pronouncement of the law relating to a pending action before the court.

A court’s judgment states the winner of a case and the amount of remedies that the winner of the case is to be awarded. The remedies may include injunctive relief, money damages or even both. Additionally, the court’s judgment represents the end of a court’s jurisdiction with regards to that particular case. A jury’s verdict is not final and is subject to the judge’s decision if the court deems the jury incompetent or having reached a decision that a standard normal jury wouldn’t have.

A jury’s verdict mostly awards guilty or not guilty verdicts in most instances.Another difference between a jury’s verdict and a court’s judgment, is that a jury’s verdict is susceptible to manipulation through emotions like sympathy. Emotional testimonies from the parties in a court case, coupled with the closing statements of opposing counsel, play a significant part in the jury’s verdict. Sometimes more so than actual facts and evidence. On the other hand, a court’s judgment is not easily manipulated through emotions and sympathy but rather by evidence, court statutes and precedents.

According to McCammon, in a criminal case and in all federal cases, a jury’s verdict has to be unanimous. However, in some states, a verdict does not have to unanimous and relies on a significant majority in civil cases. In the event that a jury is unable to come to a judgment, it results in a hung jury and there is a mistrial. The judgment of the court is usually reliant on the analysis made by one judge however, in the Supreme Court, a majority decision is used to pass verdicts. It is almost unlikely for a court to be unable to pass judgment due to the indecisiveness of the judge(s).

Other matters may result in a mistrial, like the prosecutor including improper remarks in his/her summary or the death of an attorney (McCammon, 2012).In federal cases, a court reserves the capacity to proceed with a trial, its decision on a motion, submit to the jury a case, or decide on the motion before a jury gives a verdict. A court’s judgment may supersede a jury’s verdict even when a jury has deliberated on a motion and returned with a decision. However, when the court reserves its judgment, it has to decide on the motion by relying on evidence presented before the court during the period the ruling is reserved.

A court may even set aside a jury’s guilty verdict and decide to enter an acquittal judgment, or decide to enter an acquittal judgment when the jury fails to reach a verdict.Reference ListMcCammon, H. (2012). The U.S. womens jury movements and strategic adaptation: A more just verdict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.