Jury Duty 101

The criminal justice system on the local level consists of three entities: law enforcement, legal
counsel, and the court system.

A majority of the law abiding public will at some point in their lives come into contact with a law
enforcement officer. It is, after all, the job of law enforcement officers to be out in our communities
patrolling and responding to calls for assistance.

Significantly far fewer people will ever have contact with the other two components of our local
criminal justice system- lawyers (Prosecutors and Defense Counsel) and our court system. If it
does occur, it may be via jury duty.

The right to a jury trial is guaranteed to criminal defendants by Article 1, Section 13(a) of our
Indiana Constitution which provides as follows:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to a public trial, by an impartial jury, in
the county in which the offense shall have been committed; to be heard by himself and counsel; to
demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof; to meet
the witnesses face to face, and to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor.

The Indiana Supreme Court has set out the manner in which juries are assembled and selected by
way of the Indiana Jury Rules.

Those who are disqualified or exempt from jury duty are identified at Jury Rule 5 and Jury Rule 6,
respectively. Provisions for deferral are set out at Jury Rule 7.

The opportunity to serve on a jury, while certainly likely to be an inconvenience, is almost always
talked about later by those who have done it as an educational and worthwhile experience. In
addition, it's a way to see one of the three branches of our governmental system in action without
having to travel to our statehouse or our Nation's capital. Finally, from a historical perspective,
when you walk into the courtroom as a member of the jury panel either to hear the parties and
receive the evidence they present for your consideration or to present your verdict after
deliberations, you're taking part in a process that was specifically spelled out by our Nation's
founding members over 200 years ago. The right of a person charged with a crime to be tried in
front of a jury of his/her peers is one of the fundamental privileges that we enjoy as members of
this country.

For more information about jury duty, feel free to visit these sites:

General information about jury duty: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/juryduty/

Compilation of jury pool lists: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/jtac/programs/jurypool.html

Indiana Jury Rules: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/rules/jury/index.html#r1

Todd Corne,
Prosecuting Attorney

http://warrickcountyprosecutor.blogspot.com

© 2008 Todd Corne