ConnecticutJury Nullification
In Connecticut a statute says the court decides every question of law in a criminal trial, and the jury decides the facts. The standard instructions speak to a juror's own opinion of the law. The state constitution says that in a libel prosecution the jury has the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court. It also sets a floor of six jurors and protects the right to question each possible juror one at a time. A court rule requires a unanimous verdict.
Overview
Juries in Connecticut
Connecticut answers the question in a statute. The court decides all issues of law in a criminal trial and hands the questions of fact to the jury without telling it how to find. A court rule requires the verdict to be unanimous.
That same statute gives a Connecticut judge a power that runs in one direction only. What the power is, and why it matters to a jury, is in the Connecticut chapter of the guide.
The Connecticut constitution says a jury can never be fewer than six people. It also protects the right to question each possible juror individually. What else it says about juries is in the chapter.
The Connecticut chapter
What's in the Guide for Connecticut?
Jury selection
In Connecticut the lawyers have a constitutional right to question each possible juror one at a time. The chapter explains what that means for the person being questioned.
What the judge tells you
What the standard Connecticut instructions tell jurors about the law as the judge states it, and about their own opinions of what the law is or should be.
How the verdict works
What a unanimous verdict on each count asks of a Connecticut jury of six or of twelve, and what the verdict rule means by a general verdict.
Protections and risks
What protects a Connecticut juror after the verdict, and what the state's tampering law says about influencing a person who has been drawn, summoned or sworn as a juror.
The law in plain English
The Connecticut laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the statute on who decides the law in a criminal trial, its civil counterpart, the juror tampering law, the court rule on verdicts, and the jury section of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to Connecticut's official sources, each one checked. They cover the statutes on the legislature's site, the constitution, the Judicial Branch's Practice Book and criminal jury instructions, and its juror information page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Connecticut?
A Connecticut jury summons comes from the Superior Court. It asks you to come in and, if you are picked, to decide the facts of a case while the judge decides the law.
The state's Judicial Branch handles reporting, who can serve, and requests to be excused. Its juror information page explains each of them.
The Judicial Branch covers the practical side. What one at a time questioning is like, what the instructions say about your own view of the law, and what a judge can and cannot direct a jury to do are covered in the Connecticut chapter of the guide.
Your Connecticut summons
- Sent byThe Superior Court
- Names come fromRegistered voters, state tax filers, unemployment recipients, and driver's license or ID card holders
- It asks you toCome in and, if you are picked, decide the facts of a case while the judge decides the law
- Jury sizeNot fewer than 6, set by law; not fewer than 12 for a capital offense without the defendant's consent