VermontJury Nullification
Vermont's constitution says a person cannot be found guilty without the unanimous consent of the jury. The model instructions used in Vermont tell jurors to find the facts from the evidence and apply the law the judge gives. Those instructions are written by a committee sponsored by the Vermont Bar Association. The constitution says trial by jury ought to be held sacred.
Overview
Juries in Vermont
Vermont puts the unanimous verdict in its constitution, in the article on the rights of a person accused of a crime. Without the unanimous consent of the jury, that person cannot be found guilty. A court rule says the same in five words: the verdict shall be unanimous.
The model instructions used in Vermont tell jurors to find the facts from the evidence and to apply the law the judge gives them. They are written by a committee that the Vermont Bar Association sponsors, and the committee says the Vermont Supreme Court has not approved them. What they say about a juror's own view of the law is in the Vermont chapter of the guide.
The Vermont constitution also says when a person can give up a jury trial, and whose consent that takes. What it says is in the chapter.
The Vermont chapter
What's in the Guide for Vermont?
Jury selection
When in a Vermont trial jurors hear what the law asks of them, why a person questioned during selection has not heard it yet, and when a jury trial can be given up.
What the judge tells you
What the Vermont model instructions say about the facts, the law and a juror's own opinion, in plain words. A committee sponsored by the Vermont Bar Association writes them, so the chapter explains them and links to them.
How the verdict works
What it means that a Vermont jury has to be unanimous to find a person guilty, what the instructions say about each juror's own judgment, and what they tell jurors to leave out of their thinking.
Protections and risks
What the Vermont model instructions say about consulting with the other jurors without giving up your own judgment.
The law in plain English
The Vermont laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the article of the constitution on the rights of the accused and the unanimous jury, and the article on the right to a jury trial.
Official state resources
Links to Vermont's official sources, each one checked. They cover the statutes and constitution on the legislature's site, the court rules the General Assembly designates, the model criminal jury instructions, and the Vermont Judiciary's page for jurors.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Vermont?
A Vermont jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to find the facts of a case from the evidence. The judge gives you the law.
The Vermont Judiciary has a page for jurors. It covers reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
That page covers serving. What the model instructions ask of you, what the constitution says about a unanimous jury, and what the instructions say about holding to your own judgment are covered in the Vermont chapter of the guide.
Your Vermont summons
- Sent byThe Superior Court for your county
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, find the facts of a case from the evidence
- Jury size12; fewer by stipulation with the court's approval