Editing Jury (section)

==Types of jury ==
The "petit jury" (or "trial jury", sometimes "petty jury") hears the [[evidence]] in a [[trial]] as presented by both the [[plaintiff]] (petitioner) and the [[defendant]] (respondent) (also known as the complainant and defendant within the English criminal legal system). After hearing the evidence and often [[jury instructions]] from the [[judge]], the group retires for [[deliberation]], to consider a verdict. The majority required for a verdict varies. In some cases it must be unanimous, while in other jurisdictions it may be a majority or [[supermajority]]. A jury that is unable to come to a verdict is referred to as a [[hung jury]].

===Grand jury===
{{Main|Grand jury}}
A grand jury, a type of jury now confined mostly to federal courts and some state jurisdictions in the United States and Liberia, determines whether there is enough evidence for a [[Criminal procedure|criminal trial]] to go forward. Grand juries carry out this duty by examining evidence presented to them by a [[prosecutor]] and issuing [[indictment]]s, or by investigating alleged [[crime]]s and issuing [[presentment]]s. Grand juries are usually larger than trial juries: for example, U.S. federal grand juries have between 16 and 23 members. The [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]] guarantees Americans the constitutional right to be free from charges for "capital, or otherwise infamous" crimes unless they have been indicted by a grand jury, although this right applies only to federal law, not state law.

In addition to their primary role in screening criminal prosecutions and assisting in the investigation of crimes, grand juries in California, Florida,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.miamisao.com/publications/grandjuryreports.htm |title=CURRENT GRAND JURY REPORTS – Miami Dade Office of the State Attorney |publisher=Miamisao.com |access-date=2014-01-05 |archive-date=2014-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106032108/http://www.miamisao.com/publications/grandjuryreports.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> and some other U.S. states are sometimes utilized to perform an investigative and policy audit function similar to that filled by the [[Government Accountability Office]] in the United States federal government and legislative state auditors in many U.S. states.

In Ireland and other countries in the past, the task of a grand jury was to determine whether the prosecutors had presented a ''[[true bill]]'' (one that described a crime and gave a plausible reason for accusing the named person).<ref name=":1" />

===Coroner's jury===
{{Main|Coroner's jury}}
Another kind of jury, known as a coroner's jury can be convened in some common law jurisdiction in connection with an [[inquest]] by a [[coroner]]. A coroner is a public official (often an elected local government official in the United States), who is charged with determining the circumstances leading to a death in ambiguous or suspicious cases, such as of [[Death of Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} A coroner's jury is generally a body that a coroner can convene on an optional basis in order to increase public confidence in the coroner's finding where there might otherwise be a controversy.<ref>See, e.g., Section 1245.1 of Pennsylvania's codified laws regarding coroners. http://www.pacoroners.org/Laws.php {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127163019/http://pacoroners.org/Laws.php |date=2013-11-27 }}</ref> In practice, coroner's juries are most often convened in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety by one governmental official in the criminal justice system toward another if no charges are filed against the person causing the death, when a governmental party such as a law enforcement officer is involved in the death.<ref>See, e.g., Inquest Schedule, Jury Findings and Vedicts (2013) of British Columbia. http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/coroners/schedule/index.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213145205/http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/coroners/schedule/index.htm |date=2016-02-13 }} (retrieved March 8, 2013)</ref>

=== Policy jury ===
{{Excerpt|Citizens' assembly}}