NCJ Number
17426
Date Published
1974
Length
170 pages
Annotation
THIS REPORT SUMMARIZES THE MANY COMPONENT STUDIES OF THE JURY SYSTEM OPERATION STUDY, WHICH WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DEVELOP AND ANALYZE KNOWLEDGE ON JURY SYSTEM OPERATION AND TO DEVELOP JUROR UTILIZATION GUIDELINES FOR COURTS.
Abstract
THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THE STUDY WERE TO ANALYZE AND IMPROVE JUROR UTILIZATION PRACTICES OF SEVERAL COURTS, TO FORMULATE MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF JUROR UTILIZATION, AND TO DEVELOP PRACTICAL RULES AND PROCEDURES ON JUROR UTILIZATION. THESE SPECIFIC AIMS WERE ACCOMPLISHED. SIZ DIFFERENT COURT SYSTEMS WERE STUDIED IN DEPTH. INDIVIDUAL REPORTS ON EACH OF THESE COURTS WERE ISSUED, AND ARE LISTED IN APPENDIX A. A SUMMARY OF THESE REPORTS IS PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT. COMPARISONS OF COURT STATISTICS ARE GIVEN FOR VOIR DIRE STARTING TIMES, PANEL SIZE, NUMBERS NOT REACHED, DURATION OF VOIR DIRES, AND DURATION OF TRIALS. A DESCRIPTION OF THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL DEVELOPED IN THIS STUDY IS THEN PRESENTED. IN THIS SECTION, THE RELATION BETWEEN CHARACTERISTICS OF A GIVEN COURT AND THE RISK OF INCURRING COURT DELAY CAUSED BY INSUFFICIENT JURORS IS DEVELOPED USING COMPUTER SIMULATION METHODS. THE SYSTEM COMBINES INPUT DATA REPRESENTING PARAMETERS OF A COURT SYSTEM WITH A FIXED SET OF OPERATING PROCEDURES TO YIELD MEASURES OF SYSTEM OPERATION. RESULTS OF A QUESTIONNAIRE ON JUROR ATTITUDES ARE ALSO INCLUDED. THE GUIDELINES DEVELOPED IN THIS STUDY ARE PRESENTED IN 'A GUIDE TO JUROR USAGE', PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED TO LEAA AND, AT THE TIME OF THIS REPORT, UNDER REVISION PRIOR TO GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS.