Why does a defendant facing a serious criminal charge have the right to jury trial?
Civil matters – usually big commercial matters – are fights mostly btwn attys. Quite often, attys run the file in a way designed to deplete the other side’s resources such that they’ll cave and settle for much less just to avoid having to defend. Juries typically don’t understand these tactics or the rules of civil procedure adherence to which may have a huge effect on the outcome. There are often fights over the provision of documents and the weight to be applied to each. A jury here would require the judge to issue instructions about every five minutes and the jury may or may not appreciate why the rules operate this way. Criminal matters on the other hand attract a penalty that may include everything from deprivation of liberty to execution. Although there are procedures and rules here, too, they are in most cases more easily understood by more people generally. Most of us can grasp the difference between direct evidence and what someone was heard to have said and all that sort of t
