History Main / CommonNonsenseJury

-->''Blackadder'': "I remember Massingbird's most famous case: 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 have the blood washed out of his jacket!".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the episode "New Kid On The Block", Homer, ever the {{Jerkass}} BigEater, eats a whole restaurant's stock of food (''[[UpToEleven several times over]]'') [[BuffetBuffoonery because it offers an "all you can eat" buffet]] and then has the gall to sue it for false advertisement because it wasn't all that ''he'' could eat. It ends up being one of the few times that [[TheAllegedExpert Lionel]] [[AmoralAttorney Hutz]] (representing Homer) wins a case because all of the people in the jury were fat food lovers like Homer who felt sympathy for his "plight".

** [[ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell The Great White Shark]] was [[WhatAnIdiot dumb 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; dumb, because he winds up getting sent to [[BedlamHouse Arkham Asylum]]. The presiding judge lampshades the jury's idiocy for falling for his obvious lies, but takes comfort in knowing the white-collar "Shark" will be a mere guppy amongst the myriad of maniacs and psychopaths that Arkham houses. Of course, another explanation is that the jury thought anyone willingly going to Arkham must be insane.

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 in fact proven their case. This is usually because the jury feels that extenuating circumstances justify the crime, or occasionally because they feel the law is unfairly applied or simply ''wrong''. There are two sides to this: A) the US legal system says that 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. B) Nevertheless, jury nullification is legal in the US. A criminal court can't insist on a guilty verdict, an acquittal can't be appealed, and jurors can't be punished for a verdict. [[note]]There are circumstances where a judge can set aside an acquittal, but it's extremely rare and limited to cases of juror misconduct; the result is a mistrial, not a guilty verdict, which means the defendant has to be tried again, or the case is dropped.[[/note]]

** [[ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell The Great White Shark]] was [[WhatAnIdiot dumb 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; dumb, because he winds up getting sent to [[BedlamHouse Arkham Asylum]]. The presiding judge lampshades the jury's idiocy for falling for his obvious lies, but takes comfort in knowing the white-collar "Shark" will be a mere guppy amongst the myriad of maniacs and psychopaths that Arkham houses.

-->'''Finch:''' You think your average juror is King Solomon? No! He's a roofer with a mortgage. He wants to go home and sit in his Barcalounger and let the cable TV wash over him. And this man doesn't give a single, solitary droplet of shit about truth, justice or your American way.\\

'''Finch:''' [[HumansAreFlawed My point, exactly.]]

* ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' has most trials revolve around the Jury System, and if you get a GameOver, the jury will falsely declare your client guilty. This can happen even if you are near the end of the trial and it's ''incredibly obvious'' who the real culprit is. In fact, they will do this [[OnceAnEpisode at least once per trial]] even when [[FissionMailed you do everything right]], at which point you need to do a Summation Examination and examine the jurors' reasoning, then point out flaws and convince the jurors to change their vote. [[spoiler:However, in Case 3 of the first game, this actually happens when the jurors falsely ''acquit'' the defendant, who really is guilty- and they do this even has the ''defense attorney'' begs them to give a little more time to solve the case.]]

* ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' has most trials revolve around the Jury System, and if you get a GameOver, the jury will falsely declare your client guilty. This can happen even if you are near the end of the trial and it's ''incredibly obvious'' who the real culprit is. In fact, they will do this [[OnceAnEpisode at least once per trial]] even when [[FissionMailed you do everything right]], at which point you need to do a Summation Examination and examine the jurors' reasoning, then point out flaws and convince the jurors to change their vote. [[spoiler:However, in Case 3 of the first game, this actually happens when the jurors falsely ''acquit'' the defendant, who really is guilty.]]

* ''Film/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 him twice for twice that amount of money]]. All this implies they must have a ''very'' compliant jury (also judge).

** One of the most infuriating was in the SVU episode "Screwed", where Darius Parker, Fin's brother-in-law/stepson, a sociopath with a vengeance gets off scot-free on raping and murdering a woman and her baby because of his mommy issues. He gets a corrupt ex-cop for a defense who's feeding him dirt on the SVU detectives' pasts provided to him by a police lieutenant with a grudge against their captain. His confession is thrown out because he keeps it a secret from the detectives that he has an outstanding warrant, so when they finally do get a confession, he's made it so it's inadmissible. He causes Elliot's daughter to be arrested for an old DUI, Fin's reputation to be tarnished, Captain Cragen to be in danger of losing his badge, and Olivia to be thrown in front of IAB. All because his mother, Teresa, was raped by her father and couldn't bear to raise him, so she posed as his aunt. She's convinced to testify and finally admit who raped her and in turn Darius batters and abuses her on the stand, accusing her of lying because she didn't file a report (nobody believed her). He rapes and murders a woman, buries her 14-month-old baby alive (the jury wasn't actually told about the baby), and takes the whole unit down because of chickenshit personal issues that could have been solved by any half-decent therapist. And he's acquitted. The assistant district attorney Casey Novak damn near looks like she's holding back tears when the delusional jury lets him off.

* ''Series/RumpoleOfTheBailey'' presents us with "Rumpole a la Carte," in which the chef at a [[FrenchCuisineIsHaughty posh French restaurant]] in London is on trial for a health violation -- namely having a live mouse presented upon a customer's plate. Like most things in the health code, this is a strict-liability offense: it doesn't matter ''why'' you did it, it only matters that the code was violated. However, Rumpole does his best to laugh the case out of court, and produces evidence that the mouse was planted as a complex plot by the cashier.[[note]]The chef's venomous French wife was divorcing him, and since they had been married under French law, she would get half of the profits from the restaurant via [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_property community of property]]. The cashier hated the wife and was desperately in love with the chef, so she cooked up the scheme to ruin the restaurant so the ex would get nothing.[[/note]] The jury acquits.

** One of the most infuriating was in the SVU episode "Screwed", where Darius Parker, Fin's brother-in-law/stepson, a sociopath with a vengeance gets off scot-free on raping and murdering a woman and her baby because of his mommy issues. He gets a corrupt ex-cop for a defense who's feeding him dirt on the SVU detective's pasts provided to him by a police lieutenant with a grudge against their captain. His confession is thrown out because he keeps it a secret from the detectives that he has an outstanding warrant, so when they finally do get a confession, he's made it so it's inadmissible. He causes Elliot's daughter to be arrested for an old DUI, Fin's reputation to be tarnished, Captain Cragen to be in danger of losing his badge, and Olivia to be thrown in front of IAB. All because his mother, Teresa, was raped by her father and couldn't bear to raise him, so she posed as his aunt; she's convinced to testify and finally admit who raped her and in turn Darius batters and abuses her on the stand, accusing her of lying because she didn't file a report (nobody believed her). He rapes and murders a woman, buries her 14 month-old baby alive (the jury wasn't actually told about the baby), and takes the whole unit down because of chickenshit personal issues that could have been solved by any half-decent therapist. And he's acquitted. The assistant district attorney Casey Novak damn near looks like she's holding back tears when the delusional jury lets him off.

** Another episode features the judge berating the jury for their decision to award a ridiculous amount of money to the plaintiff in a dubious fraud lawsuit, before exercising his power to reduce the amount.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the episode "New Kid On The Block", Homer, ever the {{Jerkass}} BigEater, [[BuffetBuffoonery eats a whole restaurant's stock of food because it offers an "all you can eat" buffet]] and then has the gall to sue it for false advertisement because it wasn't all that ''he'' could eat. It ends up being one of the few times that [[TheAllegedExpert Lionel]] [[AmoralAttorney Hutz]] (representing Homer) wins a case because all of the people in the jury were fat food lovers like Homer who felt sympathy for his "plight".

In real life (principally in the USA), the "voir 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 competency 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".

* In ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'', Atticus Finch demonstrates the accuser Mayella's injuries were caused by a [[TheKillerWasLeftHanded left-handed individual]] while the defendant, Tom Robinson paralyzed his left arm in an accident. The jury of that time in the DeepSouth still convicted him, refusing to consider the idea that a black person could ever be WronglyAccused of a crime. (Or, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation alternately]], a false conviction seemed like the lesser evil compared to [[CategoryTraitor the shunning and violence]] they might face if they decided to acquit.)

* A frequent occurrence on the ''Series/LawAndOrder'' franchise. One of the most infuriating was in the SVU episode Screwed, where Darius Parker, Fin's brother-in-law/stepson, a sociopath with a vengeance gets off scot-free on raping and murdering a woman and her baby because of his mommy issues. He gets a corrupt ex-cop for a defense who's feeding him dirt on the SVU detective's pasts provided to him by a police lieutenant with a grudge against their captain. His confession is thrown out because he keeps it a secret from the detectives that he has an outstanding warrant, so when they finally do get a confession, he's made it so it's inadmissible. He causes Elliot's daughter to be arrested for an old DUI, Fin's reputation to be tarnished, Captain Cragen to be in danger of losing his badge, and Olivia to be thrown in front of IAB. All because his mother, Teresa, was raped by her father and couldn't bear to raise him, so she posed as his aunt; she's convinced to testify and finally admit who raped her and in turn Darius batters and abuses her on the stand, accusing her of lying because she didn't file a report (nobody believed her). He rapes and murders a woman, buries her 14 month-old baby alive, and takes the whole unit down because of chickenshit personal issues that could have been solved by any half-decent therapist. And he's acquitted. The assistant district attorney Casey Novak damn near looks like she's holding back tears when the delusional jury lets him off.

** Jimmy once defended his cousin for firing a woman due to her Iranian heritage. His case literally amounted to "she's a good person, but we should judge her for the actions of her countrymen". It works. The judge throws out the verdict, orders Jimmy's cousin to pay a hefty compensation, and delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Jimmy, his cousin, and the jury.

* The second episode of ''Series/HarrysLaw'' featured a woman on trial for committing armed robbery, with eyewitness testimony and video evidence. The defense Harry presented basically amounted to "Yeah, she did it, and she wasn't insane or senile, but she's an old woman". It worked. With only slightly more justification, the first episode had a young man get off on drug possession charges (and a corresponding "third strike" prison sentence) through the argument that as he was on his way to college, the "greater good" of society would be better served by not convicting.

* A frequent occurrence on the ''Series/LawAndOrder'' franchise. One of the most infuriating was in the SVU episode Screwed, where Darius Parker, Fin's nephew/stepson, a sociopath with a vengeance gets off scot-free on raping and murdering a woman and her baby because of his mommy issues. He gets a corrupt ex-cop for a defense who's feeding him dirt on the SVU detective's pasts provided to him by a police lieutenant with a grudge against their captain. His confession is thrown out because he keeps it a secret from the detectives that he has an outstanding warrant, so when they finally do get a confession, he's made it so it's inadmissible. He causes Elliot's daughter to be arrested for an old DUI, Fin's reputation to be tarnished, Captain Cragen to be in danger of losing his badge, and Olivia to be thrown in front of IAB. All because his mother, Teresa, was raped by her father and couldn't bear to raise him, so she posed as his aunt; she's convinced to testify and finally admit who raped her and in turn Darius batters and abuses her on the stand, accusing her of lying because she didn't file a report (nobody believed her). He rapes and murders a woman, buries her 14 month-old baby alive, and takes the whole unit down because of chickenshit personal issues that could have been solved by any half-decent therapist. And he's acquitted. The assistant district attorney Casey Novak damn near looks like she's holding back tears when the delusional jury lets him off.

* A frequent occurrence on the ''Series/LawAndOrder'' franchise. One of the most infuriating was in the SVU episode Screwed, where Darius Parker, Fin's brother-in-law/stepfather, a sociopath with a vengeance gets off scot-free on raping and murdering a woman and her baby because of his mommy issues. He gets a corrupt ex-cop for a defense who's feeding him dirt on the SVU detective's pasts provided to him by a police lieutenant with a grudge against their captain. His confession is thrown out because he keeps it a secret from the detectives that he has an outstanding warrant, so when they finally do get a confession, he's made it so it's inadmissible. He causes Elliot's daughter to be arrested for an old DUI, Fin's reputation to be tarnished, Captain Cragen to be in danger of losing his badge, and Olivia to be thrown in front of IAB. All because his mother, Teresa, was raped by her father and couldn't bear to raise him, so she posed as his aunt; she's convinced to testify and finally admit who raped her and in turn Darius batters and abuses her on the stand, accusing her of lying because she didn't file a report (nobody believed her). He rapes and murders a woman, buries her 14 month-old baby alive, and takes the whole unit down because of chickenshit personal issues that could have been solved by any half-decent therapist. And he's acquitted. The assistant district attorney Casey Novak damn near looks like she's holding back tears when the delusional jury lets him off.

[[AC:Web Original]]
* In the ''Roleplay/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 pheromone-driven power to cause all men to view her as attractive and friendly did the rest...

* A judge actually called out a jury for this on an episode of Series/ThePractice. The protagonist attorneys won a staggering verdict for their client, but the thoroughly disgusted judge (who had made clear throughout the trial that he thought the case was a joke) unilaterally slashed the verdict to a still-respectable amount and chewed the jurors out for their verdict. The attorneys and their client were actually pretty OK with that, as the judge gave them a pretty solid chunk of change and they kind of knew the jury got out over their skis a bit.

* In ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'', Atticus Finch demonstrates the accuser Mayella's injuries were caused by a [[TheKillerWasLeftHanded left-handed individual]] while the defendant, Tom Robinson paralyzed his left arm in an accident. The jury of that time in the DeepSouth still convicted him, refusing to consider the idea that a black person could ever be WronglyAccused of a crime. (Or, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation alternately]], a false conviction seemed like the lesser evil compared to the shunning and violence they might face if they decided to acquit.)

In real life (principally in the USA), the "voir 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 competency 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."