12.0 - I. Defendant's Right To A Jury Trial

• Jurisdiction: New York

I. DEFENDANT’S RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL

The Constitution of the United States provides that “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.”¹⁸⁶⁷ The U.S. Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals have held that a jury trial is not constitutionally required where the crime the defendant is accused of committing carries a maximum sentence of six months or less.¹⁸⁶⁸ Relying on these decisions, New York in 1984 enacted legislation that denied jury trials to defendants charged only with misdemeanors carrying a sentence of no more than six months if the charges were prosecuted in any city with a population of 150,000 or more.¹⁸⁶⁹ The New York State Legislature, in 1990, declined to extend the necessary enabling legislation; now a...