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Pages will please distribute amendment
AG.
This will be Amendment No. 14. The
Clerk will read the amendment.
READING CLERK: Amendment No. 14
to Committee Recommendation R&P-1 by
Delegate Henderson:
On page 3, section 5, Rights of Accused,
in line 12 after the period add this new
sentence :
"The General Assembly may provide for
juries of six with a concurrence of five in
the District Court."
THE CHAIRMAN: Amendment No. 14
is submitted by Delegate Henderson. Is
there a second?
DELEGATE CICONE: Second.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Cicone sec-
onds the Amendment.
The Chair recognizes Delegate Hender-
son to speak to it.
DELEGATE HENDERSON: In section
7 the Committee recommended that in civil
cases the jury might be not less than six
as fixed by law. This amendment which I
propose, No. 14 is a companion in that the
General Assembly may provide for juries
of six with the concurrence of five in the
District Court.
Now, perhaps I should eliminate "with
the concurrence of five," because that was
tied in with the previous amendment, if I
might have permission to strike that out
to make it conform with the other amend-
ment.
This is limited to cases in the new dis-
trict court. If you are going to have that
court trying with a jury of six, the civil
cases which are within the court's juris-
diction, then it seems to me as a com-
panion measure, they should have the
right to try the criminal cases that are
within their limited jurisdiction. Otherwise,
a great deal of the benefit of the smaller
verdicts at that level 'would be lost and of
course the great advantage of permitting
a jury trial at that level is that you avoid
the necessity of having the same case either
transferred by the election of the jury
trial or by a transfer and trial de novo in
another court which is a waste of time
for all persons involved, including the
litigants.
The lack of unanimity at the courts of
jurisdiction in criminal cases do 'not apply
at this lower level and I would urge con-
sideration of this amendment.
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THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Henderson,
does the Chair understand that you desire
to modify the amendment by striking out
of line 5 the words "with a concurrence of
five"?
DELEGATE HENDERSON: I do.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gleason,
do you object?
Is there a concurrence?
DELEGATE GLEASON: I do not ob-
ject. I want to ask a question.
THE CHAIRMAN: The amendment is
modified in the absence of an objection, by
striking from line 5 the words "With a
concurrence of five", with the comma fol-
lowing that.
DELEGATE GLEASON: I am not sure
that your precise language carries out the
intent. In civil cases the language is the
General Assembly may provide for juries
of not less than six.
I thought you were talking about eight.
Do you want to equate the two? Do you
want to add the language "The General
Assembly may provide for a jury of not
less than six"?
THE CHAIRMAN : Delegate Henderson.
DELEGATE HENDERSON: I wanted
to combine the two. The other amendment
is not confined to the District Court.
THE CHAIRMAN: What words do you
desire to add?
DELEGATE HENDERSON: "Not less
than" in front of the six.
THE CHAIRMAN: Is there any objec-
tion to the modification?
The Chair hears none. In line 5, after
the word "of" and before the word "six"
insert the words "not less than."
Delegate Bamberger, do you have a ques-
tion?
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: State the question.
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: Delegate
Henderson, if it is your intention to pro-
vide here also that the verdict of the jury
of six shall be unanimous, must you not
also add language to accomplish that pur-
pose?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Henderson.
DELEGATE HENDERSON: I should
not think so, because of the unanimity
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