It is an awful system for sure. They often judge based on emotion rather than reason, turning a trial into a drama fest rather than a search for truth.



I wouldn't trust average Joe as a jury member more than I would trust him with a gun.

Juries really don't factor in that much to the system. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/opinion/sunday/go-to-trial-crash-the-justice-system.html?_r=0 Roughly 90% of all criminal cases that would mandate a jury trial just don't go there at all.

That said, Juries do, often, seem to understand the concept of "reasonable doubt" and do their job as described.

The cases of Casey Anthony and OJ Simpson are actually triumphs of the system. The jurors in Casey Anthony have stated that they were pretty sure the mother killed her baby, but that they could not go beyond a reasonable doubt, so she had to walk.

The only problem I've ever had with juries is in cases where there are two (or more) expert witnesses giving contradictory testimony, and the jury has to decide which one is telling the truth. There was one true crime story I was watching, and one of the pieces of forensic evidence had to do with the timing of death, and they had two experts get on the stand and give completely contradictory interpretations of what happened (based on the type of insects that were found on the body). When I was watching it, I was thinking, how could average citizens, with little background knowledge on the subject, adequately assess the two arguments.

The system is really messed up, but id still want a jury or a judge.

You pervert.  You took this thread's pants off, made it stand here naked in front of everyone, and then nailed it.

Afaik I wouldn't want random people judging in court. Way too important to let some bigot be the judge of anything.
Give me a neutral judge, one who has taken to heart to be neutral, and judge without prejudice.

But, this answer might point out that i know jack shit about your justice system.

Zimmerman is a really bad example for this proposition bc he had influence over the cops bc they were worried that zimmerman might be a coworker someday, and he knew the legal system pretty well, so he can effectively bullshit his way through his trial.

Fine, but even with a judge-based system you will have people, like zimmerman, that would be more informed than the average citizen of the legal system, and how to maneauver safely within it. 

Also, it probably isnt as much of a result of a jury-based system, but rather the bias in criminal courts towards a defendant's innocence when in doubt.

That and judge based systems tend to be FAR more biased towards the afluent and famous then even US courts.

Juries at least tend to have a few people that can sympathise and think like people who aren't the higher crust of society.  If you think juries can be bamboozled assuming "black urban youths" can be dangerous...

Judges would be 10X worse... as for most of them, the only time they see a minority is in the courtroom.