Preview

12 Angry Men: Jury Deliberation

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
517 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
12 Angry Men: Jury Deliberation
The movie 12 Angry Men is about the jury deliberation in a criminal case against an eighteen year old Latino who is accused of stabbing his father to death. It starts after the defense and the prosecution have presented all the evidence and the jury goes to the jury room to decide the guilt or innocence of this man. The whole movie takes place in the jury room. The case was supposed to be an open and shut case with all the evidence proving the Latino was guilty. Eleven jurors found the man guilty but one found him not guilty, which, is the basis of the movie.

The characters in the movie do not have names but rather, are referred to by their sitting order on the jury. The main character is a man only known as juror #8 until, at the end of the movie, you find out his name is Davis. You do not learn the names of the other jurors. The main character is the only juror to vote not guilty to begin with. All the jurors have their own characters that play into the movie and show prejudice ignorance, preconceived notions of the case, and other hidden traits that play a part in the movie. For example, one of the jurors lives in the same style of neighborhood as the man. Another thinks all people from the poor side of town are low-lifes and thinks that killing is in their nature so that sentencing one more to death will not matter.

There are also many legal aspects in this movie. The main one is that they are a jury in a criminal court case to decide the innocence or guilt of a man and give him a fair trail. Another example is that the whole basis of the movie is consumed with reasonable doubt. This is the idea that if there is any reasonable doubt, that is any chance, that the accused did not commit the crime, then the defendant cannot be found guilty. Also, if the man were found guilty he would receive capital punishment, which is also known as the death penalty. Other legal aspects of the movie 12 Angry Men are how the Latino received a fair trail and how there were

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    At the beginning of Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, the jury has just finished listening to six days of trial proceedings. A nineteen-year old man is on trial for the murder of his father. The defendant has a criminal record (and a lot of circumstantial evidence piled against him). The defendant, if found guilty, would receive a mandatory death penalty.…

    • 1927 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the 1957’s movie 12 Angry Men, it is about twelve jurors who have to come to a verdict whether or not the young boy is guilty for murdering his father. All but one juror said guilty. In the movie we see that jurors are using the arguments made by the witnesses and evidence found which were presented in court to help justify their decision and come to a conclusion on whether he is or isn’t guilty for killing his father. During this deliberation we can see emotion, reason and sense of perception being used by each juror to decide upon their verdict. Some questions that were raised during the movie were, do we make decisions based on our emotion? To what extent does the juror show to be rational or irrational? And In what ways are the eyewitness…

    • 141 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are only twelve main characters in the entire play whose names we never learn. Despite that fact, there is a large amount of character development and the reader is able to learn lots about each juror. Character development is necessary for a good story and Twelve Angry Men has lots of it. It is all through the jurors dialogue and how they each act. The protagonist, juror 8, and the antagonist, juror 3, are easily identifiable thanks to how they talk about the case and what they want to happen. Juror 10 is clearly a racist based on the way he talks about “them”. As you can see, their names are not necessary for good characters and a good play. All that is…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A maintenance role that is notable within the group is an Encourager of Participation. This role is filled by juror number eight. Throughout the movie, he encourages everyone to give their opinion on the case. He listens and demonstrates a level of openness to the ideas of others. Juror number eight is also responsive to the other jurors.…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie 12 Angry Men depicts a typical scene today: twelve jury members meeting to discuss a case presented to them and determine guilt or innocence of a young man accused of killing his own father. Usually the jury room is a place for discussion and debate, but the evidence has swayed all but one of the jurors into voting guilty. The group in the movie is a jury of 12 men with various backgrounds and age groups. They were placed in a deliberation room where the entire move took place.…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eyewitness In 12 Angry Men

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The film 12 Angry Men is about a murder trial conducted in a courtroom. The judge gave the jury its final instruction telling them that a guilty verdict will result in a death sentence for the defendant, an 18-year-old boy who was accused of murdering his father using a knife! One juror had a personal connection with the case. He has not seen his son for more than two years. He claims that the young boy is guilty and that all young kids are criminals. The juror has bias towards the trial because he see his son in the young boy. Out of the twelve jurors, eleven jurors voted for conviction. Another juror states that he has doubts about the case and hopes to give the boy a favorable decision. The young boy had a hard life living in the slum. A third juror claims that each of the…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men Flaws

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Throughout the years of America, we had many juries during criminal trials to decide if the defendant guilty or not guilty. In the 1957 movie, 12 Angry Men shows the best representation of American jury system and how people change their minds. 12 Angry Men shows that personal feeling get in the way in their votes. The movie is about how 12 jurors decide the fate of young boy that persumed he killed his father, while during the initial vote only Juror 8 raised his hand not guilty. Then throughout the movie and script each of the 11 jurors for various reason change their votes to not guilty. The 12 jurors change their votes from guilty to not guilty through character flaws, positive personality traits, expertise on the evidence, and pattern of behavior.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men Essay

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The movie "12 Angry Men" focuses on a jury's decision on a capital murder case. A 12-man jury is sent to begin decisions on the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year-old Latino accused of stabbing his father to death, where a guilty verdict means an automatic death sentence. The case appears to be open-and-shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. 8 (Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote. At first Mr. Davis' bases his vote more so for the sake of discussion after all, the jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. As the movie unfolds, the story quickly becomes a study of the jurors' complex personalities and how they deal with argumentation within groups and critical thinking. This allows Mr. Davis to try and convince the other jury members that the defendant might not be guilty by using cooperative argumentation, claim, evidence, warrant, facts, etc.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of 12 Angry Men

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages

    With a wide cast of characters, it is truly courtroom television. Almost the entire movie is filmed entirely in the jury's deliberation room. At the beginning of 12 Angry Men(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050083/), the characters have just heard the testimony and evidence against a man accused of murder. The case initially seems to be obviously against the defendant, and 11 out of 12 jurors agree that he is guilty. One juror remains who is not entirely convinced that the man is guilty of murder. Over the course of the film, this individual gradually swings more and more of the jury to his side of the argument.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    12 Angry Men Jury Duty

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Everyone dreads Jury duty. Jury duty is commonly known as a nuisance that gets in the way of our everyday lives. When one types in the words “jury duty” into the google search bar that individual finds the first few search results to be “get out of jury duty” or “jury duty excuses”. However, we fail to realize that the role of a juror is essential to the United States justice system, we also fail to realize that every single juror counts. We often hear of jurors conforming, and switching their votes to the majority vote in hopes of going home, but this is not the case in “12 Angry Men”. In Sidney Lumet’s feature film “12 Angry Men”, we are given insight to the pressures of social psychology and how one man strives to overcome and change it.…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Justice In 12 Angry Men

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It’s the hottest day of the year in New York City, and 12 clammy men, who were put on a jury, are locked into a room, where the fan doesn’t work and the windows stick, to discuss the case of an 18 year old accused of murder. In the opening scene, the judge states that is it a first degree murder and if found guilty the teenager will receive the death penalty. The 18 year old is accused of killing his father with a “one of a kind” switch blade. The 12 jurors must decide if there is enough evidence to convict the teen of murder. When the initial vote is taken it is 11-1. The one vote for not guilty is juror eight, whose real name is Davis. He is a well-spoken man, wore a suit and tie and had his dark hair slicked back for the trial. Davis admits that he doesn’t know if the teen is innocent but says he could be. In the movie 12 Angry Men, Juror eight shows true justice…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once the jury retire to the jury room to consider their verdict, the jurors are prohibited from communicating with anyone apart from the judge or an assigned court official. This goes on until the verdict has been delivered. Under s.8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, they are also forbidden from revealing information gathered during their deliberations. A breach of this section would amount to a criminal offence. It is argued that jury secrecy ensures freedom of discussion in the jury room, protects jurors from outside influences and from harassment and ensures the finality of the verdict. Without secrecy, citizens may be hesitant to serve as jurors. The arguments against secrecy include the fact that juries would be made more accountable, the reliability of convictions would be easier to inquire into and injustices would be easier to rectify, it will paint a clearer picture on where reform is required, it could educate the public as well as ensure each juror’s freedom of expression. A case that drew attention to the issue of jury secrecy would be the House of Lords’ case of R v Mirza where a juror writes to the court, after the trial, expressing their concern with how the verdict was reached. There was a suggestion that some of the jurors could be racist. The House of Lords took…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men Response

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The setting of 12 Angry Men is a jury deliberation room where the jurors are and required to decide the guilt or innocence of an 18 year old that is accused of committing first-degree murder by stabbing his father with a switchblade knife. Witnesses were presented to give evidence of hearing a quarrel; hearing a threat to kill, and have seeing the boy run away. Another witness swore to having seen the boy stabbing his father from a window across from where the murder occurred. Eleven jurors were convinced the boy was guilty and deserved the death penalty. One raised questions he felt had not been asked or had not been pursued by the defense.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twelve angry men is a 1957 American Film that originated from a play of Reginald Rose and has been directed to a film by Sidney Lumet. The movie is not just about the outcome of the trial of a Puerto Rican youth who has been accused of murdering his father, but also shows how the beliefs and attitudes of the twelve jurors lead to his acquittal. Aside from that, this movie also shows Leadership traits that can help every individual on developing their leadership capabilities. The story started when the twelve jurors were put together in a sweltering deliberation room somewhere in America where they have been asked for their verdicts whether to put the child on chair or not. Eleven of them unanimously voted that the youth is guilty and must be…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The film “12 Angry Men” is a 1957 drama consisting of a dozen men on jury, who attempt to reach a verdict involving a teenager in a murder case. A guilty verdict was initially predicted, but the jury members start questioning and reasoning the testimonies given in court. Was the boy being accused of stabbing his father really guilty? All the information regarding the timing of the train, the timing of the murder, and the testimonies did not add up. Through much debate, a complex voting process, and many concepts learned through SCOM, the jury managed to attain a not-guilty ruling due to the inadequate testimonies and facts gathered.…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics