jury trial

noun

: a trial that is decided by a jury

I demand my right to a jury trial.

Examples of jury trial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After a week-long jury trial, Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III was found guilty of a mass shooting that left six of his family members dead in January 2021. —Noe Padilla, The Indianapolis Star, 25 Oct. 2024

He was convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine in federal court in San Diego in 2009 after a jury trial. —Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2024

Spicy-dish lawsuit by San Jose doctor against Los Gatos restaurant set for jury trial Great balls of fire! —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 15 Oct. 2024

When the judge at his first jury trial chewed him out, Wiener stumbled into Harris’s office for advice. —Nathan Heller, Vogue, 11 Oct. 2024

Legal Definition

jury trial

noun

: a trial in which a jury serves as the trier of fact

called also trial by jury

compare bench trial

Note: The right to a jury trial is established in the U.S. Constitution, but it is not an absolute right. The Supreme Court has stated that petty crimes (as those carrying a sentence of up to 6 months) do not require trial by jury. The right to a jury trial in a criminal case may be waived by the “express and intelligent consent” of the defendant, usually in writing, as well as, in federal cases, the approval of the court and consent of the prosecutor. There is no right to a jury trial in equity cases. When a civil case involves both legal and equitable issues or procedure, either party may demand a jury trial (and failure to do so is taken as a waiver), but the judge may find that there is no right to a jury trial because of equitable issues or claims.