Full access allows:
- Solve all tests online without limits;
- Remove all advertisements on website;
- Adding questions to favorite list;
- Save learning progress;
- Save results of practice exams;
- Watching all wrong answered questions.
6. Should the court grant the motion?
The parties' attorneys stipulated to the return of a verdict from a five-person jury. The jury then deliberated and returned a verdict for the company. The man timely filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that the five-person jury was not large enough to return a verdict.
After the parties' attorneys examined the prospective jurors and exercised their challenges, six jurors and two alternate jurors were chosen. During the trial, two jurors became ill and were replaced by the alternate jurors. At the conclusion of the trial, a third juror also became ill, and the court excused that juror.
A man filed a federal diversity action against a bus company, seeking damages for injuries he had sustained in an accident while riding a bus owned by the company. The man demanded a jury trial.
Comments (0)
There are no comments at the moment. If you found an error or think question is incorrect, tell everyone about it
Only signed in users can write comments
Signin
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 38(a) provides that the right of a trial by jury as declared in the Seventh Amendment is preserved for the parties. A party who wishes for a jury trial on a particular issue must file a demand within 14 days after the service of the last pleading directed to that issue.
The process by which the jury is selected is called «voir dire.» In most states the voir dire consists of oral questions by both sides' counsel to the prospective jurors. The questions asked are written to discover whether a potential juror is biased and whether he has connections with a party or with a prospective witness.
Any juror who is shown through voir dire to be biased or connected to the case must be dismissed on motion by a party. When a juror is dismissed for such bias or connections, his dismissal is said to be «for cause.» In addition to jurors dismissed for cause, each party may dismiss a certain number of other prospective jurors without showing cause, which is called a «peremptory challenge.»
Traditionally, juries have been composed of 12 members. However, the Seventh Amendment is no longer construed to require that the jury have 12 members. FRCP 48 provides that a jury must initially have at least 6 and no more than 12 members. FRCP 48 further states that a mistrial must be declared if the jury dwindles to less than 6 unless the parties stipulate otherwise.
B is correct. A federal jury must begin with at least 6 and not more than 12 jurors. Sometimes jurors may be excused during trial for good cause, such as emergencies or illness. Courts often select alternate jurors to be on hand for these reasons. In exceptional circumstances, however, when the jury has suffered depletions beyond its alternates, the parties may agree to be bound by a verdict rendered by fewer than six jurors. Therefore, the parties' stipulation makes the verdict by a five-person jury valid.
A is incorrect. The court may dismiss a juror during trial or deliberation for good cause. Sickness, family emergency, or juror misconduct are examples of appropriate grounds for excusing a juror without causing an error or mistrial. Here, the jurors were properly dismissed; however, the verdict would not be valid without the stipulation of the parties.
C is incorrect. Although a jury must begin with at least 6 and no more than 12 members, a court may dismiss jurors for good cause along the way. A court usually seats alternate jurors for this reason. However, if a jury is depleted beyond its available alternates, the parties may still agree to accept a verdict.
D is incorrect. As stated above, the FRCP requires at least 6 jurors and no more than 12 jurors participating in the verdict. While judges will sit alternate jurors to account for attrition, only up to 12 jurors may participate in the actual deliberation and verdict.