RULE 16 - Jury How Taken
a) The empaneled jury having completed voir dire shall be sequestered in the courtroom.
b) The presiding officer shall ensure that the jury is present for the entire trial.
c) If the number of jurors present drops below the lawfully permitted minimum, the trial shall immediately cease until such a time as the minimum is restored.
i) If the minimum does not return after a reasonable amount of time, the presiding judge shall declare a mistrial.
ii) No juror after leaving, should the trial continue in their absence, be allowed to continue to serve on the jury.
iii) No juror may be admitted on the jury mid-trial if they were not empanelled in accordance to rule 7.
d) The jury, after the closing statements have been presented and before the presentation of the
verdict, shall in a trial be given private place to meet.
i) Such a place shall be sealed to the outside except for individual employees of the court
authorized to enter.
ii) The jury shall deliberate and may reach a verdict of guilty if they find that the defendant, beyond a reasonable doubt, committed the alleged action.
iii) The jury shall not use âjury nullificationâ.
iv) Should the jury find that the defendant there is reasonable doubt that the defendant did not commit the offense, they shall find the defendant not guilty.
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All votes of the jury must be unanimous.
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The jury shall find the defendant guilty or not-guilty on each specific charge. Lesser included offenses cannot be used as an alternative verdict.
v) If a vote is not unanimous and remains hopelessly nonunanimous, the jury shall inform the presiding officer who shall declare a hung jury and a mistrial.
e) A juror may be removed mid-trial, and not readmitted to the jury in such a case, if it is found that the juror has:
i) A conflict of interest;
ii) accepted a bribe in the case;
iii) or other good cause.
f) If a juror is dismissed mid-trial by the judge and the number of jurors drops below the minimum lawful amount, clause c of this rule shall apply.
g) During deliberations, the jury may question the presiding officer. Such questions must be limited to only questions of law and not questions of fact.
h) After rendering the verdict to the judge, the jury is determined to be dissolved and the jurors
therefore dismissed.
i) After the closing statements but before the commencement of jury deliberation, the presiding justice shall inform the jury (where possible in plain English) of:
i) Legal definitions of all charges presented against the defendant;
ii) requirement for a unanimous agreement per charge;
iii) hung juries;
iv) conflicts of interests and bribes and consequences thereof;
v) mistrials and consequences thereof;
vi) the burden of proof necessary to convict the defendant;
vii) and any other matters of law the presiding justice may find to be of great pertinence.
j) The specific text stated in the jury instructions must be publicized to both parties once it is distributed to the jury. Both parties shall be permitted to motion to append or amend the jury instructions. Both parties are permitted to debut such motions. The presiding justice shall decide whether appending or amending the jury instructions is necessary to ensure all necessary probative information as per matters of law is distributed to the jury.
RULE 17 - Definitions
a) The word âjusticeâ, âjudgeâ, âjudiciaryâ, or âjudicial officialâ shall refer to any currently serving member of the Judicial Branch authorized to hear any suit or complaint within the state.
b) The words âpresiding Officerâ, âPOâ, or âpresiding justiceâ shall refer to the judge presiding over a case.
c) The words âcivil matterâ, âcivil complaintâ, or âcivil suitâ shall refer to any matter whereby the charge does not result in the defendant being incarcerated in the State Penitentiary should the accused be convicted, unless otherwise prescribed by law in civil or tort matters.
d) The words âcriminal complaintâ or âcriminal caseâ shall refer to any matter whereby the charge could result in the defendant being incarcerated in the State Penitentiary should the accused be
convicted.
e) The words âunlawful purposesâ shall refer to criminal threats or any other action
which is deemed unlawful.
f) The word âspamâ shall refer to the repeated placing of text or images which is meant to destroy or hinder the operations of a certain thing or is irrelevant to the question at hand.
g) The word âcomplaintâ shall refer to an accusation that a person or persons broke a law.
h) The words âplaintiffâ and âprosecutionâ shall refer to a person or group allegeding
that another group or person broke a law.
i) The words âdefenseâ and âdefendantâ shall refer to a group or person alleged to have
broken a law in a complaint.
j) The word âwritâ shall refer to an order issued and granted by any court for a specific
type of relief.
k) The word âchargesâ shall refer to a list of alleged laws violated by the defendant.
l) The words âhearingâ shall refer to a non-trial gathering of the relevant parties to argue
a motion or to tend to a matter in front of a judge.
m) The word âdocketâ shall refer to a group of complaints or petitions that will be, or are
going to be heard by a court or sole judge.
n) The words âopening statementâ shall refer to the first statement in a trial summarizing the events in question, the evidence to be presented, and the applicable charge(s).
o) The words âphysical evidenceâ shall refer to any evidence that is a: video, photograph, URL, website, program, code, etc. and is not a human testifying as to a certain topic.
p) The words âwitness testimonyâ shall refer to any person answering questions under oath in a court of law.
q) The word âqualified attorneyâ shall refer to any person who is able to lawfully represent others in the court of law.
r) The term âguiltyâ shall refer to it being proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the âguiltyâ person has committed the act with which they are accused.
s) The term ânot guiltyâ shall refer to the failure to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the ânot guiltyâ person has committed the act with which they are accused.
t) The words âno contestâ shall refer to not saying if someone committed an action accused of.
u) The words âtrier of factâ shall refer to the party designated to determine the guilt of
the defendant.
v) The word âpartyâ shall refer to a person(s) or entity named as the plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, or respondent in a matter.
w) The words âopening statementâ shall refer to the first statement in a trial summarizing the events in question, the evidence to be presented, and the applicable charge(s).
x) The words âclosing statementâ shall refer to an ending statement by a party to summarize the important points that the party would like to point out to the trier of fact.
y) The words âDirect Examinationâ shall refer to the party who presented the witness questioning the witness for the first time.
z) The words âCross Examinationâ shall refer to the party who did not present the witness questioning the witness for the first time.
aa) The words âRe-Direct Examinationâ shall refer to the party who called the witness questioning the witness for the second time.
bb) The words âRe-Cross Examinationâ shall refer to the party who did not call the witness questioning the witness for the second time.
cc) The word ârecuseâ shall refer to a judge refusing to rule on a matter or question and
that same judge refusing to place the original matter at hand on their docket.
dd) The words âjury nullificationâ shall refer to a jury finding a defendant not guilty
because they dislike or disagree with the way that the law was or is enforced with no real legal merit.
ee) The words âjudicial examinationâ shall refer to the presiding officer questioning a witness.
ff) The words âvoir direâ shall refer to the formal selection of the jury.
gg) The words âperemptory challengeâ shall refer to a party being able to dismiss a juror(s) without having to give a reason.
hh) The words âvictim impact statementâ shall refer to the person(s) injured by the actions of a defendant being permitted to give their views about the defendantâs sentence.
ii) The word âstayâ shall refer to a court halting the proceedings for a case in either that court or a court inferior to that court.
jj) The word âAmicus Curiaeâ shall refer to a person or entity who would be affected by a decision of a court or has some sort of insight or bearing on the case.
kk) The word âtangibleâ shall refer to anything that can be touched or viewed (such as videos, photographs, urls, etc.).
ll) The word âsealâ shall refer to a court ordering the deletion of something from a personâs record. Any lawfully sealed record may not be used against the person in question in lawful proceedings or as otherwise determined by law.
mm) The words âadmission of evidenceâ shall refer to the allowance of a piece of evidence to be used in a trial, hearing, or other judicial proceeding.
nn) The word âevidenceâ shall refer to something that can prove a point for a party in a
case.
oo) The term âcriminal organizationâ shall refer to any group of three or more individuals who mutually agree to violate the law; specifically, but not necessarily, under the umbrella term âgangâ or âmafiaâ or any other term which can reasonably be associated to criminal activities.
pp) The term âlay witnessâ shall refer to any witness who testifies as to their personal experience(s).
qq) The term âexpert witnessâ shall refer to any witness who provides an opinion as to their specialized field of interest.
RULE 18 - Misc.
a) Before any judicial proceeding may occur, all of the parties involved shall be âsworn inâ using the oath of honesty demanded by the perjury laws of the state. Swearing in of the parties shall not be mandatory for Supreme Court Special Proceedings as defined in Rule 10.
b) The following bills shall be considered null and void:
i) An Act to Establish General Rules of Procedure in the State Courts
ii) A Bill to Amend âAn Act to Establish General Rules of Procedure in the State Courtsâ (revised)
iii) A Bill to Further Amend An Act to Court Procedure
iv) An Amendment to An Act to Establish General Rules of Procedure in the State Courts
v) A Bill to Establish Fair Testimony in the State Courts
vi) An Amendment to the GRP (Revised)
vii) AN ACT to Establish More Realistic Motions
viii) An Amendment to the Motions Law to Enact a Fair Jurisprudence
ix) A Bill to Amend An Act to Establish More Realistic Motions
x) A Bill to Illegalize Violation of Judicial Ethics
Respectfully submitted to the Congress of the State of Firestone,
CHIEF SPONSORS:
Representative, NotoriousAmerican
Representative, SerZhukov
Director of the Public Defenderâs Office, thekerbal