This article contains spoilers about the final episode of The Jury: Murder Trial
Should juries be abolished? Last night’s Channel 4 docudrama of a real trial, The Jury: Murder Trial, opened with the question: “Can we trust our justice system?” The only answer any reasonable viewer could give was no.
This four-part series assembled two separate juries to pass judgment on a real-life case, re-enacted by actors speaking from the transcript of the original trial. The jurors knew already that the defendant had killed his wife. The issue was whether he was provoked beyond the bounds of “self-control”. In other words, was it murder or manslaughter, a life sentence or two to three years in prison? At the end, the two juries reached opposing verdicts. Where lay justice?
