A federal jury has acquitted Bobby Nunez, who was charged with stealing government property by towing an immigration agent’s vehicle during the arrest of a TikTok influencer in downtown L.A.
The thing about jury nullification is you don’t just shout “jury nullification” to use it. It’s a quirk of the system in that the jury gets to decide if someone is guilty, or not, of breaking a law, for any reason. The justification they give won’t be “jury nullification.” It’ll be something that argues that it was justified.
Honest question, having never been on a jury, do they really have to give an explanation at all? I thought the foreman just came out and gave the judge a note saying guilty or not guilty for each charge.
I haven’t either, but my understanding is that no, they don’t have to give a reason. They just give the verdict. They’ll be asked a reason by the press though, which would be the actual argument for letting them off, not just that they nullified it.
The thing about jury nullification is you don’t just shout “jury nullification” to use it. It’s a quirk of the system in that the jury gets to decide if someone is guilty, or not, of breaking a law, for any reason. The justification they give won’t be “jury nullification.” It’ll be something that argues that it was justified.
Honest question, having never been on a jury, do they really have to give an explanation at all? I thought the foreman just came out and gave the judge a note saying guilty or not guilty for each charge.
I haven’t either, but my understanding is that no, they don’t have to give a reason. They just give the verdict. They’ll be asked a reason by the press though, which would be the actual argument for letting them off, not just that they nullified it.