Twelve just men
Sir: I am sorry Virginia Utley (`Jury in the dock', 23 February) has despaired of the jury system but can only say this conflicts markedly with my own experience. Having done jury service twice in the last five years, and sat on six juries, I came away full of pride for the jury system.
Far from being the 'engine of barbar- ism', it was my experience that the jury system is the one thing that actually func- tions well in the legal system. In spite of the lamentable performance of barristers who stutter their way through cases un- familiar with their material, judges who display open bias in their summings-up, the chaotic organisation of our courts and bizarre sentencing, juries struggle manfully to give everyone a fair trial.
I can remember a case (which had taken over a year to get to court) where we argued heatedly for over seven hours whether someone had stolen an abandoned car. And we deliberated for so long be- cause we were all aware that to convict would give the defendant a criminal record and so wanted to be certain of reaching the right decision. In the end, we came to a unanimous guilty verdict.
Like Virginia Utley, I encountered a few jurors who were illiterate and suspicious of the police. But the majority were ordinary working-class people (there were, interes- tingly, very few professional people like myself) determined to see fair play and quite capable of reaching a rational deci- sion. If ever I am unfortunate enough to be wrongly accused of a crime, I pray that I come before an ordinary British jury for justice.
Terence Russoff
18 Saxon Road, Wood Green, London N22
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