Twelve Good Men and True

A cornerstone of our Anglo-Saxon heritage is our legal system, the Common Law and trial by jury of one's peers.

Well, about that jury thing, it may be a lot less comforting that it seems.

A survey reported in the Sydney Morning Herald reveals most of the juries questioned in 25 child sex assault cases did not realize what verdict they had just delivered:

"The first question was "What was the verdict in the case?" But in only six of 25 juries surveyed could all the jurors correctly state their verdict.

"In one trial 10 jurors reported reaching three different verdicts. In two other trials, jurors said they had found the accused innocent of some charges, when they found the person guilty of all of them.

"The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, which received permission to interview the jurors, had been conducting a study into the use of video evidence and had not expected to make a finding about the post-trial puzzlement of jurors.

"In 40 per cent of the trials at least one juror - and as many as four - who returned a not guilty verdict said, erroneously, that the judge had directed them to do so.

"A barrister who has reviewed jury trials for the Law Reform Commission, Paul Byrne, SC, said the results were disturbing and that most juries seemed to have a good grasp of their role.

"'It is a fairly surprising thing that a jury, when surveyed, would get something as fundamental as a verdict wrong,' Mr Byrne said.

"'In sex assault prosecutions there are often a number of different incidents and the jury is told pretty clearly that they are to give different verdicts for each count. I find it hard to believe they would not appreciate that. I would think that it is a relatively straightforward task and so important that they would not get it wrong.'"