New Hampshire House Passes Bill That Would Require Courts to Fully Inform Juries

[Keith and stuff]

New Hampshire House Passes Bill That Would Require Courts to Fully Inform Juries
CONCORD, N.H. (Feb. 15, 2017)
http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com...inform-juries/

New Hampshire is the only state to pass a jury nullification law. NH's recent law says that the defense is allowed to bring it up. The law would not have passed without the efforts of several free staters and others. This new bill is to make the government (court) also mention it. A similar bill passed the NH House last year but died in the NH Senate. This new bill has a couple Senate co-sponsors, so maybe that will help it?

A New Hampshire bill that would require state courts to fully inform jurors of their right to nullify passed the House today.

House Bill 133 (HB133) would require courts to “inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy.” An unusually short and concise bill by modern standards, it reads, in part:

At the request of the defendant or the defendant’s attorney, the court shall instruct the jury as follows: “If you have a reasonable doubt as to whether the state has proved any one or more of the elements of the crime charged, you must find the defendant not guilty. However if you find that the state has proved all the elements of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant guilty. Even if you find that the state has proved all of the elements of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, you may still find that based upon the facts of this case a guilty verdict will yield an unjust result, and you may find the defendant not guilty.”

IN PRACTICE

Jury nullification played a noble role in combating federal slavery laws prior to the Civil War, as northern juries regularly refused to convict individuals for violations of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. In one instance, a large crowd broke into a Boston courtroom and rescued a runaway slave. When the government indicted three of those involved, an acquittal and a series of hung juries forced the government to drop the charges.

A recent example of jury nullification occurred in New Hampshire when Doug Darrell was arrested and charged with felonies for cultivating marijuana for religious and medical purposes. If convicted, he would have likely faced many years in prison. He was guilty by the letter of the law, but the jury decided to acquit him anyway.

While the Supreme Court admitted in Sparf v. U.S. that juries have the right to ignore a judge’s instructions in regard to law, they also held that the court is not legally bound to inform them about it.

HB133 would change that in New Hampshire.

NEXT UP

The legislation will now move to the Senate for further consideration. Last year, the full house passed a similar bill by a 184-145 margin, but the legislation was ultimately killed in the Senate.

Additional reporting by Michael Boldin, TJ Martinell and Shane Trejo

[presence]

this would be huge setback to the regulatory state

[tod evans]

this would be huge setback to the regulatory state

Juries are, by and large, stacked........

But this could be a huge setback...

[AZJoe]

This is good news I hope it passes.

Fully Informed Jury Association:

[tod evans]

Affiliation with either the judicial or executive branch of government, even by birth or marriage, should be grounds for dismissal from the jury pool.

Vested interest and all that........


[edit]

Family members of the murder victim aren't permitted to sit on the jury of the accused murderer....

Why should a member of the "Just-Us" departments family be permitted to sit on a jury where their livelihood might be in jeopardy?

[Anti Federalist]

Outstanding!

[William Tell]

I truly hope it passes the senate and gets signed. Then other states might take notice. This may be the most important issue in the coming years, and it already is to all good folks being prosecuted for BS.

5 stars