Too many of the potential jurors said that even if the defendant, Elisa Meadows, was guilty, they were unwilling to issue the $500 fine a city attorney was seeking, said Ren Rideauxx, Meadows’ attorney.

  • trackcharlie@lemmynsfw.com
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    5 months ago

    You’re not wrong, but when you get selected for jury duty the selecting lawyer will make inquiries about your knowledge on the subject and disqualify you if you admit knowing about it.

    If you bring it up to the jury, that can also have you disqualified as well as anyone else the lawyers think were influenced by the discussion.

    The third option is supposed to ‘naturally’ occurr, as in the jury agrees that the law was broken but the situation is so ‘outside the scope of the law’ that the law can no longer be applied. (IIRC the judge can overrule the jury in this case, but it can be a pain)

    Essentially it’s up to the judge to determine whether the jury’s conclusion is within the realm of the ‘third option’.

    • gregorum@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      Yeah. That’s why people, who could be jurors, should be generally educated on the subject.

      I was trying to be subtle.

      • trackcharlie@lemmynsfw.com
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        5 months ago

        I don’t have the data to say one way or the other. I can definitely see how public knowledge of the third option can be abused, especially these days when political alignment is more important than facts to many people.