• Serinus@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    You have to be very particular if you’re going to do that.

    Jury nullification is not allowed. Voting not guilty because you have reasonable doubt is always allowed. You don’t have to explain why you have reasonable doubt.

    The fact that those happen to be jury nullification is unfortunate for those who would like to disallow it.

    If you say “nullification”, you can likely be removed from the jury. If you say you believe they did it, but you’re going to vote not guilty anyway, you might be removed. If you just insist you have reasonable doubt, and insist that decision is yours to make, you can’t be removed.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      Jury nullification is absolutely allowed. It’s the entire reason citizen juries exist. Otherwise, it would be better to have judicial panels determine guilt based on strict interpretation of the law.

      The last line of defense against unjust laws and a corrupt judicial system is citizen juries who can refuse to convict.

        • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          Article I, Section 8 of the New York Constitution explicitly allows for Jury nullification. It says directly that the jury may determine the law in their ruling on the case.

          • Serinus@lemmy.world
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            9 days ago

            I would still be very careful about when and where and how you say it. Quoting the state constitution at the right time should certainly give you more leeway than other states, but I wouldn’t risk saying it too early.

            It’s best to just treat it as not allowed, at least until deliberation. Maybe even then.

        • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          They can lie and remove jurors all they like. They can’t do shit about jury nullification if done right. It’s the logical consequence of a jury not being forced to give a guilty verdict, and repeat trials being disallowed.

          If you’re a juror, it’s dead simple. Keep your answers during selection honest, don’t reveal anything you don’t have to, don’t talk about jury nullification, vote not guilty no matter what, and express the reasonable doubts in a sensible manner. There are plenty of in depth how to guides out there as well.

          It’s legal. They just can also legally drop you the moment they think you’re a nullifier.