Blog #9- Julia Hansen- 2/24/2020- Period 2

February 24th, 2020

Julia Hansen 

Period 2 

Aim: By analyzing the tone and diction of the dialogue, how can we assess the effect of “reasonable doubt” in the jury room?

Do Now: How is prejudice affecting decision making in the jury room?

• Most of the jurors come in with closed mindsets. In their heads they already have made a decision before they even discussed it because of the color of his skin and the lifestyle he lives. 

Reasonable doubt: if there is a possibility that something is not the way you originally assumed, and you can provide some evidence to prove it.

Proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is required for conviction of a criminal defendant. A reasonable doubt exists when a factfinder cannot say with moral certainty that a person is guilty or a particular fact exists. It must be more than an imaginary doubt, and it is often defined judicially as such doubt as would cause a reasonable person to hesitate before acting in a matter of importance. 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/legal/reasonable%20doubt

Reasonable Doubt: Not being sure of a criminal defendant's guilt to a moral certainty. 

Reasonable doubt is a standard of proof used in criminal trials. When a criminal defendant is prosecuted, the prosecutor must prove the defendant's guilt Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. If the jury—or the judge in a bench trial—has a reasonable doubt as to the defendant's guilt, the jury or judge should pronounce the defendant not guilty. Conversely, if the jurors or judge have no doubt as to the defendant's guilt, or if their only doubts are unreasonable doubts, then the prosecutor has proven the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and the defendant should be pronounced guilty.

Hung Jury: A jury that cannot reach a unanimous verdict.

Pg. 44-52 read aloud.

Discussion: What causes disparity when defining reasonable?

Many different definitions of reasonable.

Reflection: 

Today we continued to read 12 Angry Men. Before we read aloud, we learned about reasonable doubt and a hung jury. This broadened our horizon of the judicial system before we continued reading about the trial. We also discussed how prejudice affected the juror’s decision making which adds deeper meaning to what we read. What we learned about the courtroom and about biases will help us as we continue reading