Rhode IslandJury Nullification
In Rhode Island a statute has the presiding justice instruct the jury in the law in every case tried with a jury. The criminal juror's oath calls for a verdict according to law and the evidence. A court rule sets a jury of twelve in the Superior Court and says the verdict shall be unanimous. The state constitution says the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.
Overview
Juries in Rhode Island
Rhode Island's statute says that in every case tried with a jury in the Superior Court, civil and criminal, the justice presiding shall instruct the jury in the law. The Rhode Island Judiciary's guide for jurors puts it in one line: the judge decides the law and the jury decides the facts.
Rhode Island also sets the juror's oath by statute. A criminal juror swears to give a true verdict according to law and the evidence. What the rest of the oath says is in the Rhode Island chapter of the guide.
A court rule sets a jury of twelve in the Superior Court and says the verdict shall be unanimous. A jury can be smaller only when the parties agree in writing and the court approves. What the state constitution says about juries and about being tried twice is in the chapter.
The Rhode Island chapter
What's in the Guide for Rhode Island?
Jury selection
What a Rhode Island court may ask a possible juror under oath, the test it uses to decide whether that person can sit, and how many jurors each side can remove without giving a reason.
What the judge tells you
What the Rhode Island Judiciary's guide tells jurors about the law and the evidence. The pattern criminal instructions the chapter located were written by the Attorney General's office and are held in print, so the chapter names them and sets a federal court's instructions beside the state's own law, labelled as federal.
How the verdict works
What the unanimous verdict rule asks of twelve Rhode Island jurors, how a verdict is returned in open court, and when a smaller jury is allowed.
Protections and risks
How Rhode Island's law on obstructing the courts names jurors, what it says about harming a juror because of a verdict, and what the Judiciary's guide says about talking about a case after it ends.
The law in plain English
The Rhode Island laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the statutes on instructing the jury, on questioning possible jurors and on the juror's oath, the law on obstructing the judicial system, the court rules on jury size, challenges and verdicts, and three sections of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to Rhode Island's official sources, each one checked. They cover the General Laws and constitution on the General Assembly's site, the Judiciary's court rules, and the Judiciary's Jury Service page with its guide for jurors.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Rhode Island?
A Rhode Island jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to take the juror's oath and decide the facts of a case. The judge decides the law.
The Rhode Island Judiciary has a Jury Service page and a Guide to Jury Service. They cover reporting, who can serve, and what to expect in court.
Those cover serving. How possible jurors are questioned, what the oath asks of you, and how state law protects a juror during and after a case are covered in the Rhode Island chapter of the guide.
Your Rhode Island summons
- Sent byThe Office of the Jury Commissioner
- Names come fromThe voter rolls and other state lists
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, take the juror's oath and decide the facts of a case
- Jury size12 in the Superior Court; fewer only by written stipulation of the parties approved by the court