Trial by jury election less of a trial

In Kencian v Watney [2015] QCA 212 the Queensland Court of Appeal allowed an appeal against the decision in Watney v Kencian & Wooley [2014] QSC 290 and ordered, pursuant to r475(1) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) that the trial proceed as a trial by jury.

Jury option needs early verdict

The decision in Rubin v Buchanan [2011] QSC 275 confirms that a trial by jury should be considered at the outset of a proceeding.

Brickwood's Sackett on Instructions to juries; containing a treatise on jury trials and appeals with forms of approved instructions and charges annotated; also erroneous instructions with comment of the court in condemning them ...

Paged continuously.

Hyatt on trials; a treatise on the trial of civil and criminal cases in state and federal courts, with complete index and table of cases, /

Mode of access: Internet.

Análise de covariância para melhoria da capacidade de discriminação em ensaios de cultivares de milho

O uso de técnicas experimentais visando à precisão em detectar diferenças no rendimento de grãos é muito importante. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar a viabilidade da análise da covariância, como forma de reduzir o erro experimental. Foram utilizados os dados de rendimento de grãos de milho (Zea mays L.) e da população final de plantas das unidades experimentais de 313 ensaios de competição de cultivares, conduzidos no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul nos anos de 1993/96. Para fins de comparação entre a precisão da análise com e sem o uso da covariância, criou-se uma estatística denominada HD, que é igual à amplitude entre as médias estimadas das cultivares, dividida pelo valor da diferença mínima significativa (DMS) do teste de Tukey. Quanto maior for o valor de HD, melhor será a qualidade do ensaio, por permitir melhor discriminação entre as cultivares. O uso da análise da covariância elevou a estatística HD de 4,7 para 19,5, e melhorou a discriminação entre as médias ajustadas pela covariável população final de plantas.

Functional and perceived benefits of wearing coloured filters by patients with age-related macular degeneration

Background: The aim was to investigate the visual effect of coloured filters compared to transmission-matched neutral density filters, in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration. Methods: Visual acuity (VA, logMAR), contrast sensitivity (Pelli-Robson) and colour vision (D15) were recorded for 39 patients (average age 79.1 ± 7.2 years) with age-related macular degeneration, both in the presence and absence of glare from a fluorescent source. Patients then chose their preferred coloured and matched neutral density transmission filters (NoIR). Visual function tests were repeated with the chosen filters, both in the presence and absence of glare from the fluorescent source. Patients trialled the two filters for two weeks each, in random order. Following the trial of each filter, a telephone questionnaire was completed. Results: VA and contrast sensitivity were unaffected by the coloured filters but reduced through the neutral density filters (p < 0.01). VA and contrast sensitivity were reduced by similar amounts, following the introduction of the glare source, both in the presence and absence of filters (p < 0.001). Colour vision error scores were increased following the introduction of a neutral density filter (from 177.6 ± 60.2 to 251.9 ± 115.2) and still further through coloured filters (275.1 ± 50.8; p < 0.001). In the absence of any filter, colour vision error scores increased by 29.1 ± 55.60 units in the presence of glare (F2,107 = 3.9, p = 0.02); however, there was little change in colour vision error scores, in the presence of glare, with either the neutral density or coloured filters. Questionnaires indicated that patients tended to gain more benefit from the coloured filters. Conclusions: Coloured filters had minimal impact on VA and contrast sensitivity in patients with age-related macular degeneration; however, they caused a small reduction in objective colour vision, although this was not registered subjectively by patients. Patients indicated that they received more benefit from the coloured filters compared with neutral density filters. © 2013 The Authors © 2013 Optometrists Association Australia.

Right to trial by jury - construction of Uniform Civil Procedure r474

In Smit v Chan [2001] QSC 493 (Supreme Court of Queensland, S1233 of 1995, Mullins J, 21.12.2001) the sixth defendant successfully obtained an order that a complex medical negligence action be tried without a jury. This was the first application to be decided under r474 of UCPR 1999, and the decision is a significant precedent for defendants in similar cases who want to avoid the unpredictability of outcome and the inflated damages awards sometimes associated with jury trials.

Jury decision making and the Story Model: How do deliberation style and evidence order influence the story that juries create?

This study investigated the utility of the Story Model for decision making at the jury level by examining the influence of evidence order and deliberation style on story consistency and guilt. Participants were shown a video-taped trial stimulus and then provided case perceptions including a guilt judgment and a narrative about what occurred during the incident. Participants then deliberated for approximately thirty minutes using either an evidence-driven or verdict-driven deliberation style before again providing case perceptions, including a guilt determination, a narrative about what happened during the incident, and an evidence recognition test. Multi-level regression analyses revealed that evidence order, deliberation style and sample interacted to influence both story consistency measures and guilt. Among students, participants in the verdict-driven deliberation condition formed more consistent pro-prosecution stories when the prosecution presented their case in story-order, while participants in the evidence-driven deliberation condition formed more consistent pro-prosecution stories when the defense's case was presented in story-order. Findings were the opposite among community members, with participants in the verdict-driven deliberation condition forming more consistent pro-prosecution stories when the defense's case was presented in story-order, and participants in the evidence-driven deliberation condition forming more consistent pro-prosecution stories when the prosecution's case was presented in story-order. Additionally several story consistency measures influenced guilt decisions. Thus there is some support for the hypothesis that story consistency mediates the influence of evidence order and deliberation style on guilt decisions.

Trial by jury in civil proceedings : “convenience” and the philosophy of the UCPR

In Syddall v National Mutual Life Association of Australasia Limited [2008] QSC 101 Daubney J ordered the action be tried without a jury. His judgment considered the circumstances in which a trial involves any technical, scientific or other issue that can not be “conveniently” considered and resolved by a jury as provided in r 474 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld)

Safeguard your access to trial by jury

In Watney v Kencian & Wooley [2014] QDC 290 Morxone QC DCJ considered the implications for defendants who desired a trial by jury, but who had relied on the election for that mode of trial made by the plaintiff in the statement of claim.

[ Order to the sheriff of Bucks County], 1731

An order to the sheriff of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for twelve men to serve on a jury in the trial of John Borrowes, for an unspecified crime. Signed: Jeremiah Langhorne (justice of the peace); dated 14 June 1731. With seal. With this document (originally attached) is the list of jurors chosen to serve at the trial.

Proceedings of a general court martial held at the Horse-Guards, on the 24th and 27th of March 1792 : for the trial of Capt. Richard Powell, Lieut. Christopher Seton, and Lieut. John Hall, of the 54th Regiment of Foot, on several charges preferred against them respectively by William Cobbett, late Serjeant-Major of the said regiment; together with several curious letters which passed between the said William Cobbett and Sir Charles Gould, Judge-Advocate General, and various other documents connected therewith in the order of their dates.

308C636no.195 #12.