Shortest Jury Trials?

[HeyHomie]

What were some of the shortest jury trials in US judicial history? For this discussion, let’s exclude kangaroo courts such as Jim Crow-era lynchings, Puritan era religious trials, etc.

Has there ever been a legitimate jury trial in the US where the prosecutor gave his opening statement and the jury handed down its verdict in the same day? If so, how common is this?

[HeyHomie]

What were some of the shortest jury trials in US judicial history? For this discussion, let’s exclude kangaroo courts such as Jim Crow-era lynchings, Puritan era religious trials, etc.

Has there ever been a legitimate jury trial in the US where the prosecutor gave his opening statement and the jury handed down its verdict in the same day? If so, how common is this?

[pravnik]

@HeyHomie

What were some of the shortest jury trials in US judicial history? For this discussion, let’s exclude kangaroo courts such as Jim Crow-era lynchings, Puritan era religious trials, etc.

My first jury trial ever, the jury only deliberated for around five minutes. I had good facts.

@HeyHomie

Has there ever been a legitimate jury trial in the US where the prosecutor gave his opening statement and the jury handed down its verdict in the same day? If so, how common is this?

Not only has it happened, it happens all the time. I was second chair at a one day felony jury trial just Tuesday, including the punishment phase.

[Cliffy]

@HeyHomie

Has there ever been a legitimate jury trial in the US where the prosecutor gave his opening statement and the jury handed down its verdict in the same day? If so, how common is this?

It’s very common. Most trials are two or three days. Some are shorter, some are longer.

–Cliffy

[El_Zagna]

Well, Ronnie Earle’s prosecution of Kay Bailey Hutchinson in 1993 was over before it got started:

This February, during pretrial procedural wrangling, Judge John Onion announced that he would make no decision before testimony began on the admissibility of evidence --including material from the “pizza-box tapes” – that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle considered critical. If the trial began and Onion refused to let the jury see the physical evidence, Earle believed, it could torpedo his entire case. The D.A. made a fateful decision: he declined to move forward with the senator’s prosecution. He later explained that he hoped to do so later, presumably before a more receptive judge.

Judge Onion, though, wouldn’t give him that chance. **Onion instead swore in a jury, then immediately ordered the panel to acquit the first U.S. senator from Texas ever to come under criminal indictment. **The abrupt court-ordered acquittal left the voluminous evidence of exactly what it was that Hutchison did – evidence that fills four walls of shelving in a locked, windowless room in the Travis County D.A.'s office – largely hidden from public view.

It’s a long story but you can read about it here

[aamco]

I think it depends on what you mean by “trial” – the prosecution and the defense can agree on a plea bargain at just about any time, so I’ve heard it’s not uncommon for a jury to be selected, seated, and then the defense to chicken out and accept a plea offer.

The closest I’ve come to such a scenario is one where I was selected for a jury pool, went to said room at said time, and then told that the defense, upon seeing the jury arrive, accepted a plea bargain. I’d never seen it happen before, but my fellow potential jurors assured me it had.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@aamco

I think it depends on what you mean by “trial” – the prosecution and the defense can agree on a plea bargain at just about any time, so I’ve heard it’s not uncommon for a jury to be selected, seated, and then the defense to chicken out and accept a plea offer.

The closest I’ve come to such a scenario is one where I was selected for a jury pool, went to said room at said time, and then told that the defense, upon seeing the jury arrive, accepted a plea bargain. I’d never seen it happen before, but my fellow potential jurors assured me it had.

Yes, this happens relatively often, in my experience. And jury trials (particularly in straightforward cases with few witnesses) can frequently be concluded in a single day. Sometimes the jury selection process takes much longer than deliberations.

[JaneyDoll]

I was on a jury and the trial lasted only about 3 hours. Of course, the defendant had no representation. :eek: