History Main / CommonNonsenseJury

** The Great White Shark was [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy dangerously savvy]] enough to have his case transferred to Gotham City to skate on an InsanityDefense for embezzling millions from the life savings of his company's clients. The presiding judge lampshades the jury's idiocy, but takes comfort in knowing the white-collar "Shark" will be a mere guppy among Arkham's worst hardcore criminals.

* Played with in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' when Haley (via BilingualBonus) points out that the innocent verdict they receive when being tried for destroying a mystical Gate is erroneous because, regardless of the surrounding circumstances, they are actually guilty of the charge. [[spoiler: It turns out that the entire trial was a sham orchestrated to get them to the city, and the "jury" was in fact Roy's father using an illusion.]]

* [[BoomerangBigot Uncle Ruckus]] served on a jury that convicted a blind black man accused of shooting (from 50 yards away) three white women with a rifle and delighted in shouting racist threats (complete with a hangman's noose) from his seat in the jury.

* LiarLiar has Fletcher's secretary relate a friend's story of the "burglar sues the homeowner after B&E goes bad and wins" predicament to point out how he and other [[AmoralAttorney Amoral Attorneys]] [[NotSoDifferent are all alike]]. Fletcher insists he's not: [[spoiler: if he were the burglar's attorney, he would've gotten her friend for twice the money she lost]].

[[AC:{{Theater}}]]

* Played with in ''OrderOfTheStick'' when Haley (via BilingualBonus) points out that the innocent verdict they receive when being tried for destroying a mystical Gate is erroneous because, regardless of the surrounding circumstances, they are actually guilty of the charge. [[spoiler: It turns out that the entire trial was a sham orchestrated to get them to the city, and the "jury" was in fact Roy's father using an illusion.]]

* ''[[{{TheBoondocks}} The Boondocks]]'' [[PlayedForLaughs plays it for laughs]]. In one episode, an intern for the Black Panthers was sentenced to death for the murder of a cop despite the real killer leaving the gun with the receipt attached, his prints on the gun and shouting to everyone around that he was the murderer.

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<<|TruthInTelevision|>>

In real life (principally in the USA) the "voire dire" process is meant to ensure that juries are made up of fair and impartial members who will treat the case seriously. In the UK and Commonwealth, it can include testing the compentancy of potential jurors. Still, a number of high-profile cases with unexpected outcomes have led to juries being described as "twelve people too stupid to get out of jury duty."

* A frequent occurance on ''Series/LawAndOrder.'' In "Blue Bamboo" (S5-3), a woman stalked and killed the Japanese businessman who pimped her out as a sex slave to his clients. Her lawyer argued Battered Woman Syndrome but the prosecution proved her testimony was plagiarized from textbooks on Battered women Syndrome and since she was no longer in Japan (and thus completely free from the victim's grasp), her murder was revenge-motivated. The judge instructs the jury not to consider the Japanese's somewhat misogynistic culture in their verdict, but they acquit her anyway.

* In the ''{{Sherlock}}'' episode "The Reichenbach Fall" Moriarty stands trial for attempting to steal the Crown Jewels. He was caught red handed at the scene, there are plenty of witnesses and good quality security camera footage. At trial he offers no defense and the judge tells the jury that they have no choice but to convict. They return a verdict of 'not guilty'. [[spoiler: Moriarty threatened to kill the jurors' families unless they acquited him]]

* ''Twelve Incompetent Men'' (and Women!) by Ian Mc Wethy[[hottip:*:Yeah, a pun on ''TwelveAngryMen'']] is a short play based entirely on this premise. They have footage of the defendant committing his crime on camera. He even shouts out his name in the footage. The play starts with a judge saying that if it took more than thirty minutes for the jury to deliberate, he would be very disappointed in them. Needless to say, the verdict came back innocent.

* Played with in ''OrderOfTheStick'' when Haley (via BilingualBonus) points out that the innocent verdict they recieve when being tried for destroying a mystical Gate is erroneous because, regardless of the surrounding circumstances, they are actually guilty of the charge. [[spoiler: It turns out that the entire trial was a sham orchestrated to get them to the city, and the "jury" was in fact Roy's father using an illusion.]]

* In the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', it proved almost impossible to convict Ambrosia of any crime, even when she was caught red handed with both video and DNA evidence, because her lawyer managed to disqualify any woman who had a chance of landing on the jury. Her pheremone-driven power to cause all men to view her as attractive and friendly did the rest...

NoRealLifeExamplesPlease. It seldom ends well.

* A frequent occurance on ''Series/LawAndOrder.'' In one episode, a woman stalked and killed the Japanese businessman who pimped her out as a sex slave to his clients. Her lawyer argued Battered Woman Syndrome but the prosecution proved her testimony was plagiarized from textbooks on Battered women Syndrome and since she was no longer in Japan (and thus completely free from the victim's grasp), her murder was revenge-motivated. The judge instructs the jury not to consider the Japanese's somewhat misogynistic culture in their verdict, but they acquit her anyway.

* On ''Series/LawAndOrder'', a woman stalked and killed the Japanese businessman who pimped her out as a sex slave to his clients. Her lawyer argued Battered Woman Syndrome but the prosecution proved her testimony was plagiarized from textbooks on Battered women Syndrome and since she was no longer in Japan (and thus completely free from the victim's grasp), her murder was revenge-motivated. The judge instructs the jury not to consider the Japanese's somewhat misogynistic culture in their verdict, but they acquit her anyway.

You've laid out your rock-solid case. You trot out your unimpeachable witnesses, forensic evidence and sworn statements. To top it off, you've got the confession on tape. Every conceivable piece of evidence points your way. Sure, the other side tried to pull a desperate ChewbaccaDefense but you ripped it to shreds, showing it for the empty argument it was and pointing the jury in the right direction. Your side won; it's a foregone conclusion.

The jury comes back with the unanimous verdict: "Not guilty".

'''''Say what?'''''

This wasn't a JokerJury, JuryOfTheDamned or even a KangarooCourt. A jury of regular citizens has decided a verdict completely contrary to what logic and common sense dictate they should have arrived at, based on the arguments and evidence provided.

Usually, a not-guilty verdict demonstrates a jury's outright gullibility whereas a guilty verdict indicates they were unable to see past some inherent prejudice or fear against the defendant.

In real life (principally in the USA) the "voire dire" process is meant to ensure that juries are made up of fair and impartial members who will treat the case seriously. In the UK and Commonwealth, it can include testing the compentancy of potential jurors. Still, a number of high-profile cases with unexpected verdicts have led to juries being described as "twelve people too stupid to get out of jury duty."

Occasionally, a surprise acquittal can be due to a phenomenon known as "jury nullification", in which the jurors return a "not guilty" verdict even though the prosecution has proven their case. This is usually because the jury feels that extenuating circumstances justify or mitigate the crime, or occasionally because they feel the law is simply ''wrong''. (It is not the jury's place to decide what the law ''should'' be, but to come to a conclusion as to whether the law ''as it is currently written'' has or has not been broken.) Defense attorneys are generally not allowed to argue in favor of nullification, but some will try to suggest that the law is unfair or overly harsh, ''implying'' that the jury should nullify the law without requesting it directly.

Occasionally, an acquittal can be due to a phenomenon known as "jury nullification", in which the jurors return an acquittal even though the prosecution has proven their case. This is usually because the jury feels that extenuating circumstances justify or mitigate the crime, or occasionally because they feel the law is simply ''wrong''. (It is not the jury's place to decide what the law ''should'' be, but to come to a conclusion as to whether the law ''as it is currently written'' has or has not been broken.) Defense attorneys are generally not allowed to argue in favor of nullification, but some will try to suggest that the law is unfair or overly harsh, ''implying'' that the jury should nullify the law without requesting it directly.

This wasn't a JokerJury, JuryOfTheDamned or even a KangarooCourt. A jury of regular citizens has decided a verdict completely contrary to what logic and common sense dictates they should have arrived at based on the arguments and evidence provided.

Usually, a not guilty verdict demonstrates a jury's outright gullibility whereas a guilty verdict indicates they were unable to see past some inherent prejudice or fear against the defendant.

In Real Life, principally in the USA the Voire Dire process exists to ensure juries are made up of fair and impartial members who will treat the case seriously, in the UK and Commonwealth it can mean the compentancy of potential Jurors, witnesses or motions where a Jury is not needed to be present.; still, a number of high-profile unexpected verdicts have led to juries being described as being made up of 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty. Occasionally, the acquittal can be due to a phenomenon known as Jury Nullification, in which the jurors decide that extenuating circumstances justify or mitigate the commission of a crime even if the prosecution has proven their case, although defense attorneys are routinely precluded from arguing their case in favor of nullification.

** R Kelly was acquitted in his 2nd trial by his attorney playing to the jury (and the court) being made up of his fans who were all too willing to believe the video footage of him and other ironclad evidence was racism at work.
** [[BoomerangBigot Uncle Ruckus]] served on a jury that convicted a blind black man accused of shooting (from 50 yards away) three white women with a rifle and delighted in shouting racist threats (complete with a hangman's noose) from his seat in the jury.

* Played with in ''OrderOfTheStick'' when Haley (via BilinguilBonus) points out that the innocent verdict they recieve when being tried for destroying a mystical Gate is erroneous because, regardless of the surrounding circumstances, they are actually guilty of the charge. [[spoiler: It turns out that the entire trial was a sham orchestrated to get them to the city, and the "jury" was in fact Roy's father using an illusion.]]

In Real Life, the Voire Dire process exists to ensure juries are made up of fair and impartial members who will treat the case seriously; still, a number of high-profile unexpected verdicts have led to juries being described as being made up of 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty. Occasionally, the acquittal can be due to a phenomenon known as Jury Nullification, in which the jurors decide that extenuating circumstances justify or mitigate the commission of a crime even if the prosecution has proven their case, although defense attorneys are routinely precluded from arguing their case in favor of nullification.

* Due to the political stances of half the court, the court-martial of Pavel Young in ''[[HonorHarrington Field of Dishonor]]'', refused to convict him of any of the charges that would have gotten him executed, even though their logic for doing so was explicitly declared invalid by standing court rulings. The aftermath of this caused the plot of the second half of the book.

* On ''[[{{LawAndOrder}} Law & Order]]'', a woman stalked and killed the Japanese businessman who pimped her out as a sex slave to his clients. Her lawyer argued Battered Woman Syndrome but the prosecution proved her testimony was plagarized from textbooks on Battered women Syndrome and since she was no longer in Japan (and thus completely free from the victim's grasp), her murder was revenge-motivated. The judge instructs the jury not to consider the Japanese's somewhat-mysogynist culture in their verdict but they acquit her anyway.
* On ''[[{{ThePractice}} The Practice]]'' a drug dealer claimed self defense in stabbing (7 times) an addict he'd threatened to murder over his mounting drug debts. His long criminal record and the complete lack of any supporting evidence prompt him to try and strangle the DA in open court in an unsuccessful bid to provoke a mistrial and delay the inevitable (the judge even refuses to grant it because he knows the guy's going down for murder). The not guilty verdict prompts the DA to [[HeroicBSOD break down]] into a tirade about juror stupidity.

* ''Twelve Incompetent Men'' (and Women!) by Ian Mc Wethy[[hottip:* :Yeah, a pun on ''TwelveAngryMen'']] is a short play based entirely on this premise. They have footage of the defendant committing his crime on camera. He even shouts out his name in the footage. The play starts with a judge saying that if it took more than thirty minutes for the jury to deliberate, he would be very disappointed in them. Needless to say, the verdict came back innocent.

* [[{{Batman}} Gotham City]], being the [[MostTriumphantExample poster child]] and home to the TropeNamer of JokerImmunity, means any criminal regardless of whether or not they have a legally-mitigating mental disorder can manipulate their way into [[CardboardPrison Arkham Asylum]].

-->''Blackadder'': "the Case of the Bloody Knife. A man was found next to a murdered body. He had the knife in his hand. 13 witnesses had seen him stab the victim. And when the police arrived, he said "I'm glad I killed the bastard." [[AmoralAttorney Massingbird]] not only got him off; he got him knighted in the New Year's Honours List. And the relatives of the victim had to pay to wash the blood out of his jacket!".