Objective:
Students will determine the impact of the system of jury by peers by watching “Twelve
Angry Men”
Agenda:
warm up
NOTES
Video with questions
NOTES:
Presumption of Innocence-the accused (defendant) is not guilty until a declared guilty by a court of law.
Adversarial System of Criminal Justice-In a criminal case, both sides (the prosecutor and the
defendant/defendant’s lawyer both present their best case)
Why might the adversarial system of criminal justice not always work?
Because one side may not present their best case, perhaps the lawyer is court appointed and does
not try their best to defend the client.
Name: ______________________________________________
Date: ___________
Twelve Angry Men – Worksheet
1
2
12
11
3
10
4
9
5
8
6
7
Order in which they vote
Not Guilty
1st
7th
2nd
8th
3rd
9th
4th
10th
5th
11th
6th
12th
Why do all of the men vote not guilty? _________________________________________________
1. List three pieces of evidence against the boy and tell how the jurors prove those pieces of
evidence to be wrong:
a.
________________________ which does not show the boy did the crime
because______________________________________________________
b. ________________________ which does not show the boy did the crime
because______________________________________________________
c. ________________________ which does not show the boy did the crime
because______________________________________________________
2. Why is Juror #5 a good juror to discuss a knife fight?
3. Using evidence from the movie, support the idea that some jurors do not care about the facts of
the case, they just want to get it over with!
4. Prejudice plays an important role in a jury’s decision. Explain the prejudices of 2 jurors and how
those prejudices affect their voting.
a.
b.
HOMEWORK DUE FRIDAY 5/4/12
ESSAY:
Does the movie “Twelve Angry Men” show that the American Criminal Justice System works well and
gives people a fair trial, or does it show that the American Criminal Justice System fails and people
don’t always have a fair trial? Use examples from the movie to explain your answer.
NAME_______________________ DATE________________ warm up-juvenile crime
Answer True or False.
_____ 1.Juveniles are arrested and processed in the same way as adults.
_____2.All Juveniles have a waiver hearing to determine if they are guilty or not guilty.
_____ 3.If Juveniles are waived to the Adult Criminal Justice System they have the same Constitutional
rights as adults.
_____ 4.If a Juvenile is charged as an adult and found guilty he/she will go to adult jail
_____ 5.Juvenile trials are open to the public
_____6. According to the 3rd amendment you have the right to a Jury in a Criminal Trial
____ 7.A Juvenile would never be sentenced to Capitol Punishment (death penalty)
_____ 8.If you commit a crime when you are 17, but go to trial when you are 18 you will automatically
be moved to the adult criminal justice system.
____ 9.The Judge must consider the nature of the crime in determining if a juvenile will go to the
Adult Criminal Justice System.
____ 10. The judge must consider how the victims of the crime feel in determining if a juvenile will go
to the Adult Criminal Justice System.
Read the article on the back of this page. Do you think this boy should be on trial as an adult? Why or
why not?
In the Florida courtroom, the first-degree murder defendant is dwarfed by the cops who surround him. In the interrogation
room, he can barely sit still or stay awake. This defendant is 12 years old and, if convicted, could spend the rest of his life in
prison. His name is Cristian Fernandez, and he is to be charged with murder as an adult in Jacksonville, Florida.
“Yes, I have compassion for Cristian Fernandez, but it's not my job to forgive,” State Attorney Angela Corey said. “It's my job to
follow the law." Police say the crime was premeditated, that Fernandez intentionally killed his 2-year-old brother, David, by
violently shoving him into a bookshelf twice, causing a skull fracture and massive internal bleeding.
The medical examiner ruled David’s death a homicide, caused by blunt-force trauma. Their mother, Biannela Susana, was not
home at the time of the incident. Police say as David lay on his bed unconscious, his older brother called their mother, who
then came home.
What happened next is very much at issue. Susana, 25, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and felony child
abuse. She remains in jail on a $1 million bond and, if convicted, faces up to 30 years in prison.
Police say they have a confession from Cristian, but the case still has sparked international outrage. More than 170,000
people have signed an online petition urging the prosecutor to treat the 12-year-old as a juvenile, not as an adult. The
prosecutor disagrees and says she is following Florida law.
Florida sends more juveniles into the adult prison population than any other state. In 2009, according to the Bureau of Justice
Statistics, 393 Florida juveniles entered adult prison. Florida was followed by Connecticut with 332 such cases, North Carolina
with 215, New York with 190, Arizona with 157 and Texas with 156.
“He’s just a kid,” said Alicia Torres, whose son was a classmate of Cristian's. She signed the petition, too. "He's got a baby
face. ... He doesn't know -- he doesn't know what's going on."
Complicating the Fernandez case is the role of Susana. Police say during the several-hour window between when she came
home and drove David to the hospital, her laptop shows that she searched “when someone gets knocked out” at 10:54 a.m.
“When you’re unconscious for hours” at 2:15 p.m. At 2:38 p.m., “concussions on children.”
Then there were online searches for a Wachovia Bank account. At 2:39 p.m., the search was for “mayoclinic.com.” After that,
according to the police report, someone downloaded music, searched popular screen savers, went to YouTube and then
finally “St. Luke’s Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida” at 3:07 p.m. A doctor at St. Luke’s told a police officer that had the toddler
been treated sooner, he may have survived. Cristian Fernandez’s public defenders argue all of the blame belongs with the
mother, and Fernandez does not deserve to be prosecuted in the adult system.
"I think many would argue that she's the most responsible when it comes to the death of this child," Matt Shirk said. In light of
a plea deal that may spare this 140-pound murder defendant from life in prison, Fernandez will next be in court Oct. 31. His
trial date has not yet been set. The mother is scheduled to stand trial starting Feb. 27.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/19/boy-12-charged-with-murder-as-adult-in-florida/#ixzz1tdBiRNvI