In short, the judgment of crimes provided for in the Brazilian Penal Code follows the following path: a police inquiry opens, which generates a process, in which evidence is gathered for and against the defendant, and, finally, the judge analyzes the data and gives the verdict. But only in cases of intentional crimes against life (homicide; inducing, instigating or assisting suicide; infanticide and abortion) does the last stage of the trial take place in the jury’s court, with all that theater and the presence of the common people – as we are used to see in American movies. In other cases, there is no audience or jury. And, until 1942, the jury court was even more restricted: it was only valid for press crimes. The first trial of this type was that of João Soares Lisboa, editor of the Correio do Rio de Janeiro, in 1822, accused of having asked for a constituent assembly against the will of the empire – he was acquitted. Even today, there are exceptions for the jury trial. If, for example, a military man commits a homicide, he will not be tried in the jury court, because he does not fit in the common justice, but in the Military Justice.
In jury court, prosecution and defense vie for the jury’s attention
CENTER OF ATTENTION
Sitting next to the defense, the defendant usually goes to the jury when he is already arrested. More than one defendant can be tried at the same time, as happened with Suzane Richthofen and the Cravinho brothers. In this case, the prosecution and defense times are stretched by one hour for each defendant
PEOPLE’S VOICE
Any person between 21 and 60 years of age can be summoned to join the jury body in their county. Every year a list of 500 people is drawn up in each district and 42 are summoned for each trial – 21 starters and 21 reserves. Of the holders, seven are drawn to the sentencing council
RESPECTFUL PUBLIC
Anyone can attend the trial, unless the defense or prosecution asks the judge for restrictions – generally, reporters are allowed, but photographers and videographers are not. When trials are very crowded, the court reserves seats for the family of the victim and the defendant.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
The judge begins the trial by summoning those present in the jury’s court to examine the case impartially. He is also the first to interrogate the defendant and the witnesses, in addition to reading the case report and presenting the evidence (photos, documents, etc.). Despite necessarily accepting the jury’s decision, it is the judge who decides the size of the sentence, in case of conviction.
KEY PIECES
There are up to eight witnesses for each side. Before testifying, the witnesses are collected in an adjoining room, where they cannot hear anything that is said in court, nor can they talk to each other. If a witness deemed essential by one of the parties is missing, the trial may be postponed.
BEST DEFENSE IS ATTACK
Every defendant has the right to a defense – if he doesn’t have the money to hire a lawyer, the state provides one. But if the accused has money, he can hire even more than one defender. The defense is the first to speak: it speaks for two hours and, after the prosecution’s reply, there is another half hour of rejoinder
HEAVY ARTILLERY
The prosecutor, an employee of the public ministry, is the one who makes the accusation. He can act alone or have an assistant at his side. In practice, he has the same space as the defense lawyer: he questions the defendant, the witnesses and has two hours to convince the jury that the defendant is guilty.
IT’S NOT LIKE IN THE MOVIES
The American jury court is very different from the Brazilian one. To begin with, in the United States, there is the Grand Jury and the Small Jury: the Large Jury, with 25 jurors, is an investigative body, with no obligation to sentence the defendant, a function that falls to the Small Jury, with 12 jurors. In addition, jurors can debate among themselves during the trial, which is prohibited here.