Any party may demand a trial by jury of any issue triable of right by a jury by (1) serving upon the other parties a demand therefor in writing at any time after the commencement of the action and not later than 10 days after the service of the last pleading directed to such issue, and (2) filing the demand as required ...
First, because a traffic ticket and other class C prosecutions (public intoxication, possession of paraphernalia, assault by contact, etc.) are criminal, you have the right to a jury trial in Texas. This means a jury of six people can be empaneled to decide your guilt or innocence after hearing the evidence.
Any party is entitled to a trial by jury. A written demand for a jury must be filed no later than 14 days before the date a case is set for trial. If the demand is not timely, the right to a jury is waived unless the late filing is excused by the judge for good cause.
Any party may file a written demand for a trial by jury which must be filed no later than 14 days before the date a case is set for trial. If the demand is not timely, the right to a jury is waived unless the late filing is excused by the judge for good cause.
What's the difference between a Jury Trial and a Court Trial? In a jury trial, the decision of guilt or innocence is decided by either 6 or 12 citizens who listen to the evidence and make the decision. In a court trial, there is no jury present. The judge listens to the evidence and makes the decision.
What's the difference between a Jury Trial and a Court Trial? In a jury trial, the decision of guilt or innocence is decided by either 6 or 12 citizens who listen to the evidence and make the decision. In a court trial, there is no jury present. The judge listens to the evidence and makes the decision.
Juries sometimes have difficulty understanding judicial instructions and complicated evidence, are susceptible to emotional appeals, may be biased, deliberate in secret without accountability, and require concentrated trial of all issues at once.
We recommend a jury trial because it's better to convince multiple people that you are not-guilty rather than one person. In a jury trial, all jurors have to be unanimous–if we can convince one person that you are not guilty, then you won't be convicted. In a bench trial, we only advocate to one person: the judge.
The reason to use a jury is to have a group of ordinary people, completely informed of the evidence, decide on the facts of the case. To use a judge only, is to risk obtaining a purely technical, or even a personally biased view, not a consensus view. To try to a jury is, in concept at least, to try to the community.