Right to trial by jury may be a fundamental right under the Constitution, but choosing between a jury trial or a bench trail can make the difference between guilty or not guilty.

Many factors play into the decision to choose a jury trial or a bench trial, said Stephanie Klein, DeKalb County assistant state’s attorney.

Benefits of Jury

If attorneys want an emotional decision, they usually would be better off with a jury, said law professor David Taylor.

Regarding the rules of filtering out prejudicial evidence, a jury trial may be a better strategy than a bench trial. According to the Lawyerist website, a blog on lawyer practices, a judge ultimately has the authority to exclude certain prejudicial evidence from being presented in trial. However, the judge must first see or hear the evidence in question in order to rule on the motion, thus risking prejudice the rules seek to prevent.

The judge also gives the jury instructions on the law, said attorney Sean Smith, of Smith, Wykes & Oncken, P.C., 513 W. State St. in Sycamore. So, even if jurors have no legal background, they can still decide the case based on law.

Elected judges sometimes have to answer to voters about the decisions they make, Taylor said. However, jurors only have to answer to themselves.

“I think for the most part, juries try – at least in DeKalb County – very hard to do what they’re supposed to do,” Klein said.

Benefits of Bench

Bench trials, on the other hand, can move along somewhat quicker than jury trials, Taylor said.

“The actual trial process in a bench trial is somewhat more expedited because you don’t have to go through jury selection,” Taylor said.

The judge also has years of experience in the courtroom and may know things the jury does not. For example, many judges know eye witness identifications may not be as reliable, Taylor said. Also, written testimonies acquired through interrogation may not be as reliable.

“I think the average jury would think no one would say they did something if they didn’t,” Taylor said.

However, the judge knows and has seen it happen many times, Taylor said.

Judges, unlike jurors, have to follow a Code of Judicial Ethics, Taylor said. If they can’t be impartial in a case, then they are supposed to remove themselves from a case. This can happen if a judge and an attorney are family members.

Disadvantages

However, whether a trail is heard by a jury or judge, there are still instances of wrongful convictions in Illinois.

According to a seven-month investigation in 2011 by the Better Government Association and the Northwestern University School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, “Wrongful convictions of men and women for violent crimes in Illinois have cost taxpayers $214 million and have imprisoned innocent people for 926 years… The financial toll was calculated by adding the costs of incarceration in jails and prisons, compensation paid to the wrongfully convicted by the state in the wake of exoneration, and civil litigation costs (lawyers fees, expert witness fees, and judgments and settlements).”

Wrongful convictions happen due to a variety of factors, from erroneous witness testimonies to new evidence surfacing.

Convictions in heinous crimes are usually given more scrutiny, Smith said, which is why wrongful convictions of these heinous crimes are uncommon.

“Those cases make national news because they are so rare,” Smith said.