Courts

There’s Fresh Interest In Informing Potential Jurors About Jury Nullification

A purely academic enterprise, I'm sure.

By Chris Williams on December 20, 2024 2:49 pm

jury trial jury duty trials technology screensIn case you’ve been living under a rock or were buried under our bonus notifications, there’s been a pretty big hubbub about the December 4th killing of Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthcare’s late CEO. While the killing was caught on tape, the alleged killer managed to escape the scene. NYPD began searching and acted as any reasonable police force would — in a manner indiscernible from a Netflix PR campaign trying to farm interest in a gritty reboot of Robin Hood where the titular character instilled class consciousness and bloodied his hands for healthcare for all.

At first, they drew attention to the calling cards the killer left at the scene: bullet casings labeled “Deny, Defend, Depose.” They upsold their wit and whimsy by informing the public that the killer dropped a book bag filled to the brim with monopoly money in Central Park. Oh, and did I mention they did everything they could to frame him as hot? There’s was no shortage of thirst-posting about the picture of the suspect caught flirting at the hotel, but once the police arrested Luigi Mangione on suspicion that he was the killer, it only got worse:

Not long after he was arrested, people began openly sympathizing with Luigi and his back pain — even the new CEO of UHC dropped a nothingburger damage control recognition about how healthcare needs to change. Hell, the guy is so likable that, evidence be damned, getting a guilty verdict could be a real uphill battle.

Before getting too in the weeds of jury nullification without talking about how it works, here’s a quick breakdown. Jury nullification, coupled with voting and that little bit in the Declaration of Independence about the right to abolish tyrannical governments, goes to the very heart of the powers vested in the people to fight tyranny. Given the power that judges and prosecutors wield, how might the people stand up to the application of laws or unruly authority they consider unjust? Well, when the time comes for juries to decide the fate of the defendant, they are told by the judge if they are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crimes that they have been accused of, they must return a verdict of guilty. Thing is, that must there is all bark and no bite. Juries cannot be punished for the verdict(s) that they hand down and double jeopardy prevents the prosecution from just re-accusing the defendant until they find a jury willing to say guilty. Ipso facto, a jury cannot be punished for handing in a verdict of not guilty even if they have no reasonable doubts that the accused committed the crimes they were accused of.

One tricky bit: since the capacity to nullify is widely regarded as an unfortunate structural consequence of how jury trials work and not a proper right, you can’t just tell your fellow jurors — or even jurors sitting on other trials — that they should just ignore whatever the prosecution is doing and nullify. But what you CAN do is inform the general public about the power and see what happens.

Once people start openly discussing jury nullification as a real Hail Mary, you’d think that the cops would wise up and stop depicting this guy like some sort of icon. But that’s not how New York’s Finest work. Instead, they graduated the representation from an attractive folk hero to a dangerous superhero who threatens to save us all from healthcare woes. No seriously, dude looks like Superman:

 

 

We’re at the point that how-tos on how to survive voir dire long enough to get to the point that you can nullify Luigi are widely being shared:

It will be hard to gather a neutral jury for this case. Right now, Luigi’s approval rating (weird to say for an alleged murderer, but alas) among young Americans is ~41%. Do you think the prosecution is going to want anybody whose family member was denied a claim by their insurance company? Anyone with a preexisting health condition? Some estimates put that at about half of Americans. Let’s be honest, do you think the prosecution wants anyone who’s recently had internet access? The public has been flooded with all sorts of UHC horror stories that would make Cruella de Vil shudder:

Innocent until proven guilty and all that. But even then (according to 41% of young Americans):

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.