Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by cogman10 1407 days ago
In the US, judges can overturn jury verdicts. That will be appealed to a higher court (which means they need a REALLY good reason to do it).

The most common place for this to happen is in civil court. A jury can come back with "11ty billion dollars" and the judge can decide "Ok, they got a little overzealous with that, $100".

2 comments

Is there a case in the US where a jury found the defendant not guilty in criminal court and the judge overturned that?
The judge can effectively overturn a "guilty" verdict but cannot overturn a "not guilty" because of double-jeopardy (though I suppose a judge could force/rule a mistrial).
juries don't determine damages, only that damages occurred as evidenced. Similarly, jurors don't determine guilt or innocence, but determines whether the presented evidence from both parties are convincing. Judges determine innocence or guilt, and also hands down sentences.
In civil cases, juries often are in charge of determining damages.
So all those movies where juries find the defendant guilty or not guilty are wrong?