During court, when something happens and the judge tells the jury to ‘forget that’ or ‘not include that,’ if the jury heard it, how could I, as someone on the jury, possibly just ignore what I heard? Whether the evidence is admissible or not.

  • kibblebits@quokk.au
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    7 hours ago

    They don’t. But later in deliberations they cannot see it in a transcript. They are supposed to base everything on the evidence they have.

    So, if something is said that absolutely incriminates a person, but it’s thrown out on a technicality and little evidence remains… technically they should be not guilty.

    Conversely, if someone is being railroaded for a crime and the only evidence placing them half way across the world at the time is somehow thrown out…. They’d have to find them guilty.

    Could you? I could not.

    • MartianSands@sh.itjust.works
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      7 hours ago

      They’d be supposed to, but they certainly don’t have to. Nobody can actually tell the jury what to decide, or there’d be no point in a jury

      • kibblebits@quokk.au
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        6 hours ago

        They have to. I mean legally they cannot consider that evidence. If they keep bringing it up in jury deliberations, and that gets reported, it would be a mistrial.

        However, you’re right in that it cannot be erased from a person’s mind… the phrase I’ve heard used is “ringing the bell” which is when a lawyer might mention a persons prior convictions, but that gets objected to and stricken. But the bell rung and the jury knows.

        • MartianSands@sh.itjust.works
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          6 hours ago

          No, there’s still a fundamental disconnect there.

          The law may say they have to, but they don’t actually have to. The difference is important

          • kibblebits@quokk.au
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            6 hours ago

            If they don’t, and they say they aren’t, it is a mistrial.

            If they don’t, and they keep their mouth shut, then no one knows.

            Connected.