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Jury trial
The jury trial, is a common law process by which the "peers of the accused" are responsible for listening to a dispute, evaluating the evidence presented, deciding on the facts, and making a decision in accordance with the rules of law and their jury instructions. Some jurisdictions allow the defendant to waive their right to a jury trial, this leading to a bench trial[?]. Trial by jury is rarely used in civil law jurisdictions, although many civil law jurisdictions do have lay assessors[?]. Jury trials tend to occur only when a crime is considered serious. Because jury trials tend to be high profile, the general public tends to overestimate the frequency of jury trials.
The vast majority of US criminal cases are not settled
by a jury, but rather by plea bargain. Both prosecutors[?] and defendants often have a strong interest in resolving the criminal case by negotiation.
In Blanton v. City of North Las Vegas[?] (US-1989) it was ruled: "offenses for which the maximum period of incarceration is six months, or less, are presumptively petty...a defendant can overcome this, and become entitled to a jury trial,..by showing that additional penalties [such as monetary fines]...are...so severe [as to indicate] that the legislature clearly determined that the offenese is a serious one."
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