Right to a Trial by Jury
Sixth Amendment:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
The dreaded day of opening the mail and seeing a Jury Summons letter. Thoughts that run through my mind, “I can’t miss school. My students would fall behind if I wasn’t there. I am a single mom and who would pick up my children and take them to their activities? The amount of work preparing for a sub for an unknown amount of time is tremendous! I am a high school coach. Who would take over my team, and how could they be successful without my guidance? I would certainly freeze in a courtroom, and I can’t sit all day. Traffic, parking, meals…”
After reconciling that the world would continue on without my imprint on every aspect of life in which I am involved in, I realized what an amazing opportunity it would be to do my civic duty as a citizen of the country that I love. How can I expect protection of my rights and justice for myself and the people I love and care about if I am not willing to be apart of the process.
I have been called to Jury Duty five times. Three of the five times the case settled before I had to report. One time I reported, but the trial was cancelled. The last time I was called to Jury Duty, I made it to the the questioning of the jurors by attorneys. I was childhood friends with one of the attorney’s daughters, so I was dismissed. After being called to Jury Duty five times, I have never served on a jury.
In September of 2021, I received my latest notice of Jury Commission. I was asked, not summoned, by the Second Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada to serve as a juror in the upcoming mock trial presented by the American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section. I accepted the request and found this to be one of the best experiences of my life. Even though this was a mock trial, I found myself fully engaged, taking notes not just on the evidence being presented, but also the effectiveness skills of the attorneys. At the end of the day, it was our job during the mock trial to not only render a verdict but also give feedback to the trial attorneys to help them continue with their growth and effectiveness skills. As a retired Social Studies teacher, I found myself looking for the effectiveness of the following skills that I worked tirelessly with my students: Forming an argument, claim, evidence, reasoning, counterclaim, rebuttal, word choice, academic vocabulary, content vocabulary, loaded language, and speaking and listening skills. I was so excited to see these skills in action in a real life situation.
While reflecting on my time as a jurorist during the mock trial, I found that I was required to use critical skills that I incorporated weekly if not daily into my classroom teaching. I realized that these same skill are the skills that impact the success of a leader and working as a team. I was not the forman of the jury, but after the intial vote of 5-1, I was the 1, I was able to use these skills to sway the rest of jurors to a 6-0 vote.
Shawna Simcik, M.S., CMP, Managing Partner, Ol Partners Denver identified “5 Critical Leadership Skills Learned from Jury Duty”:
Listen Openly: When you are not allowed to talk in a courtroom as a juror, you are forced to listen openly. Great leaders and team members listen with the intent to understand first, rather than listening with the intent to speak or reply. Although this was extremely difficult, see if you can practice your “juror” listening skills during your next meeting or conversation with a colleague.
Validate All Perspectives: During the five-day trial, I was able to hear from expert witnesses such as the coroner and the civil engineer, as well as the mother, the passerby and the defendant. Each had their own story to tell. Whether or not they were stating fact, assumption or opinion, each brought their own angle of the incident. It was my responsibility to allow everyone to share their story. Great leaders take time to validate perspectives and hear both sides of a story before reaching any conclusion.
Apply Critical-Thinking Skills: Jury duty reminded me that thinking critically is nothing more than deciding if a claim is true, partially true or false. Great leaders and teams use this to actively reach conclusions based on reason and parcel through observations, unstated assumptions and values, misinterpreted data and evaluate arguments. Thinking critically allows great leaders to decrease prejudices, biases and the risk of making mistakes.
Let Go of Assumptions: I had a lot of assumptions of jury duty all thanks to great television programs such as CSI and The Good Wife. I had assumptions of what it meant to serve as a juror as well as prejudices of criminals and civil attorneys. I had to relinquish these assumptions when I walked through the courtroom door. Great leaders and effective teams let go of all assumptions and thoughts of who is right or wrong. They also are very aware of the biases and prejudices that they bring into a team or a situation. Check your assumptions at the door.
Finding the 5%: Although I was uneasy about missing a week of work, I approached this situation and applied my 5% rule: When great leaders find themselves in a situation that is less than desirable, they try and find the 5% of what is great about the situation.
Skills 1-4 are skills identified in the Nevada Content Standards as well as the 21 Century Competencies. Skill 5 is part of Social Emotional Learning. Engaging students in mock trials in your classrooms build skills for tomorrow’s leaders and successful teams.
To find our more about Juries, take a look at NVCCE’s October 21st Ask The Expert.
Cases attributed to Trial By Jury:
Williams v. Florida
Apodaca v. Oregon
Ramos v. Louisiana
Due Process Clause