{"id":151297,"date":"2022-05-10T10:49:21","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T14:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=151297"},"modified":"2022-05-10T10:49:21","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T14:49:21","slug":"symister-welcomes-the-return-of-jury-trials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/symister-welcomes-the-return-of-jury-trials\/","title":{"rendered":"Symister welcomes the return of jury trials"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jury trials are scheduled to recommence in the High Court of Justice after an almost two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>

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Jurors were expected to show up to Court today, May 9, for orientation. \u00a0However,\u00a0those summoned to appear for the start of the May assizes have been instructed to report on Tuesday, May 10, at 9 a.m., instead.<\/p>\n

The Court-issued notice did not give reasons for the change, but it apologized for the inconvenience caused.<\/p>

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Meanwhile, one attorney is happy that trials will resume in the normal way and that persons will be judged by a jury of their peers.<\/p>

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In highlighting the drawbacks of a trial by a single judge, Leon Chaku Symister makes specific reference to the Harry Josiah case in which the judge admitted an error in upholding a no-case submission made by Josiah\u2019s lawyer.<\/p>\n

The seasoned attorney is also concerned about health issues that could arise in a judge-alone case, since verdicts are often not given right away as in jury trials.<\/p>

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He says this type of situation creates anxiety issues for the accused.<\/p>\n

The seasoned attorney says that in Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s judicial history \u2013 as in most parts of the world \u2013 persons are judged by a jury of their peers, and he believes this is a fairer way of dispensing justice.<\/p>

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When jury trials were suspended on account of the pandemic, legislation was passed that allowed judge-alone trials to take place and prevent a backlog of cases.<\/p>

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However, under the Act, only certain cases, including fraud and larceny,\u00a0could be tried in that manner.\u00a0 More serious offenses, such as murder, have to be tried by\u00a0a jury once the accused pleads not guilty.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the new legislation reduced the number of jurors on a panel from 12 to nine.\u00a0 (REAL NEWS)<\/p>\n

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Jury trials are scheduled to recommence in the High Court of Justice after an almost two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jurors were expected to show up to Court today, May 9, for orientation. \u00a0However,\u00a0those summoned to appear for the start of the May assizes have been instructed to report on Tuesday, May 10, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":114736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSymister welcomes the return of jury trials - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/symister-welcomes-the-return-of-jury-trials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Symister welcomes the return of jury trials\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jury trials are scheduled to recommence in the High Court of Justice after an almost two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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