Michele Jones, age 14, of Patterson, N.J., for her question:

WHEN DID TRIAL BY JURY ORIGINATE?

A jury is a group of laypeople who hear the witnesses in legal disputes and decide the verdict. Members of a jury are sworn to do justice.

The jury system goes back to Norman customs in the 800s. At that time juries were used to get information about matters of common knowledge in the locality, which the judges might not know, such as the commission of crimes or the boundaries of the king's land.

Early trials by jury gradually took the place of uncivilized proceedings such as trial by combat or trial by ordeal.

Jury procedure has certainly changed a great deal as time has passed. Jurors were once much like witnesses. They were called because they had knowledge of the facts. Today, a prospective juror with special knowledge about a case is quickly rejected.

Various forms of the jury system spread to many countries of Europe in the 1800s and later came to South America. In Great Britain and other countries of Europe, and in South America, juries are seldom used in trials of civil cases. They are more frequent in criminal trials. The word "jury" comes from the medieval Latin word "jurata," which means "sworn."

A courtroom trial in which the jury decides the facts is called a trial by jury. The trial jury is called a petit or petty jury. It is the most common form of jury. There are two other types of juries: the grand jury and the coroner's jury.

The grand jury hears evidence and brings formal charges against persons believed guilty of a crime. Persons are indicted or accused by a grand jury and then they are later tried by a petit jury in a criminal trial.

The coroner's jury has the duty of conducting an inquest or investigation in case of an unexplained death. The members must try to determine the cause of death and whether it calls for court action.
Petit jury is so named because it usually has fewer members than the grand jury.

The French word "petit" means "small." Federal and state petit juries have traditionally had 12 members. Some federal courts use 6 member juries in civil cases. Some states have 6 member petit juries in civil and criminal cases.

In the United States, federal grand juries have from 16 to 23 members. The district attorney usually schedules the hearing of witnesses before the grand jury. Unlike petit jurors, grand jurors may rely on their own knowledge as well as on that of the witnesses who testify.

Great Britain, with a few exceptions, abandoned the grand jury in 133. In place of an indictment, it substitutes an accusation by an official. But grand juries are still widely used in the United States.
The U.S. Constitution requires an indictment by a grand jury before trial for most federal crimes.

A coroner's jury usually consists of six members.