Jury tampering

In Ireland, the Special Criminal Court is a three-judge, juryless court which tries cases based on a majority vote. Use of the Special Criminal Court is restricted to cases where "ordinary courts are inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice", and is allowed for by the Constitution of Ireland.

While the power was initially created to prevent court cases being subverted by juries sympathetic to the defendant, the Special Criminal Court was established in 1972 to handle paramilitary cases resulting from the Troubles, when the risk of jury intimidation was high and there had also been a series of light sentences and acquittals by judges and juries sympathetic to the defendants.{{Cite book | last = Ó Faoleán | first = Gearóid | title = A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1980 | publisher = Merrion Press | year = 2019 | pages = 86–88 | isbn = 978-1785372452}} It has since been used to try cases of high-profile gang leaders and other high-risk non-terrorism cases where normal juries risk intimidation or revenge.

In Great Britain, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 allows for non-jury trials when there is danger of jury tampering, or where jury tampering has taken place.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/non_jury_trials/|title=Non Jury Trials: Legal Guidance|last=CPS|date=10 January 2008|work=The Crown Prosecution Service|access-date=2009-04-12}} On 18 June 2009, the Court of Appeal in England and Wales made a landmark ruling that resulted in the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, allowing the first-ever criminal trial to be held without a jury by invoking Section 44 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The case in question involved four men accused of an armed robbery at Heathrow Airport in February 2004. After three juries either failed to reach verdicts or were discharged, the fourth trial of the case took place before a single judge, and ended on 31 March 2010 with guilty verdicts for all four accused.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8582354.stm|title=Gang convicted of Heathrow raid|date=31 March 2010|via=news.bbc.co.uk}} The UK had previously established non-jury courts in Northern Ireland, known as Diplock Courts.

Levels of jury tampering were reported in 2002 to be a "major problem" by the deputy commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/cases-of-jury-tampering-soar-137633.html|title=Cases of jury tampering soar|date=29 December 2002|work=Independent|access-date=2018-04-11}} and in 2003 to be "worryingly high" in Merseyside by the then Chief Constable Norman Bettison and the then Home Secretary David Blunkett.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/3282049.stm|title=Blunkett tackles jury tampering|date=18 November 2003|work=BBC News|access-date=2009-04-12}}

• Gil Dozier, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, was charged with jury tampering while on bail and after being convicted of five felonies, including extortion and racketeering. He served nearly four years in prison."Persistence paid off for jailed Dozier", Minden Press-Herald, 23 July 1984, p. 1{{cite web|url=http://www.ldaf.state.la.us/portal/Portals/0/News/MarketBulletins/mb2008-07-03.pdf |title=Bill Sherman, "Louisiana ag chiefs: past and present", 3 July 2008 |publisher=ldaf.state.la.us |access-date=1 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929043801/http://www.ldaf.state.la.us/portal/Portals/0/News/MarketBulletins/mb2008-07-03.pdf |archive-date=29 September 2013 }}
• Jimmy Hoffa, a trade union leader, was convicted of jury tampering in 1964.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/12/newsid_2561000/2561165.stm|title=Hoffa faces eight years behind bars|date=12 March 1964|publisher=BBC News|access-date=2009-04-12}}
• The former West Virginia Governor, William Wallace Barron was convicted of jury tampering in 1971.{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E1FF83D5E11738DDDA90B94DB405B818BF1D3|title=Ex-Governor of West Virginia Pleads Guilty to Bribing Foreman of His Jury|date=30 March 1971|work=The New York Times|pages=16|access-date=2009-04-12}}
• George Pape, a jury foreman in a 1987 trial of John Gotti, sought out Gotti's underlings, who agreed to pay him $75,000 in exchange for a not guilty vote. Pape was later convicted of jury tampering and sentenced to three years imprisonment.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/07/nyregion/juror-is-convicted-of-selling-vote-to-gotti.html|title=Juror Is Convicted of Selling Vote to Gotti|first=Arnold H.|last=Lubasch|work=The New York Times |date=7 November 1992|via=NYTimes.com}}
• In 2007, an attempt to bribe a juror in a case investigating cigarette smuggling in Northern Ireland led to the retrial being heard by a judge sitting alone, the first such ruling.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7047531.stm|title=Jury bribe bid sees trial ruling|date=16 October 2007|publisher=BBC News|access-date=2009-04-12}}

• Contempt of court
• Embracery
• Obstruction of justice
• Witness tampering

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/ukpga_20030044_en_7#pt7 Criminal Justice Act 2003]. Chapter 44, Part 7. Trials on indictment without a jury
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090118213922/http://www.videojug.com/expertanswer/jury-restrictions-2/what-is-jury-tampering What is 'jury tampering'?]. Videojug.
• {{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/the-inside-scoop-on-jury-tampering|title=The Inside Scoop on Jury Tampering|last=Hayes|first=Matt|date=26 November 2003|work=Fox News|access-date=2019-11-06}}

{{jury}}

{{Miscarriage of Justice}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jury Tampering}}

Category:Common law legal terminology

Category:Crimes

Category:Abuse of the legal system

Category:Juries

Category:Obstruction of justice

Category:Judicial legal terminology