(A) In all prosecutions for any crime defined and made punishable by the City Charter or ordinance, the defendant shall have the right of trial by jury of six in number. Juries shall be selected from the latest tax roll and registration books used at the last city election in the same manner in which juries are selected for circuit courts. Summons for jury service shall be made by processes approved by the court. The qualifications, rights, and duties of jurors shall conform with O.R.S. 10.010 through 10.125. The verdict of the jury shall be unanimous.
(B) The payment of jury costs by a defendant, as required by § 37 of the City Charter, shall not apply to a defendant who has been found to be indigent by the court. The deposit required by the Municipal Court to ensure the right of trial by jury, under the City Charter, shall not be greater than that provided by O.R.S. 10.061 in courts other than circuit courts for payment for each juror sworn, multiplied by the number of jurors constituting a jury. Where the defendant is found not guilty, the deposit shall be returned to the defendant.
(C) In order to act as a juror in the Municipal Court, a person must have the qualifications prescribed in O.R.S. Chapter 10 and, in addition thereto, must be an inhabitant and a registered voter within the city at the time when he or she is summoned.
(D) On the first Monday in January in each year, the Municipal Judge, together with the Mayor and the Recorder/Administrator, shall meet and make a list containing the names of not less than 50, nor more than 150, persons who are the most competent of the permanent citizens of the city by selecting names by lot from the voters registration list used at the last preceding city election. The list, so selected, shall be known as a preliminary jury list. The Municipal Judge, Mayor, and Recorder/Administrator shall then delete from the preliminary jury list the names of those persons known not to be qualified by law to serve as jurors, and the remaining names shall constitute the jury list. The names of those persons deleted from the preliminary jury list shall be placed on a separate list known as rejected prospective jurors, and opposite each name, the reason for removing the name shall be stated. The jury list shall contain the first name and last name, and the place of residence and occupation, of each person named therein and shall be certified by the City Recorder/Administrator and placed on file in his or her office within ten days from the time it is prepared. If, for any reason, the making of a city jury list is omitted and neglected on the first Monday in January of any year, it may be done on the first Monday of any month following to serve until the close of the year.
(E) The Recorder/Administrator shall keep in his or her office a sufficient box, carefully secured, which is known as the jury box. After he or she has filed the jury list in his or her office, the Recorder/Administrator shall destroy all ballots remaining in the jury box and shall prepare and deposit in the box separate ballots containing the name, place of residence, and occupation of each person embraced in the list, and folded as nearly alike as practicable so that the name cannot be seen.
(F) When a jury is demanded in the Municipal Court, and the fee therefor is paid as hereinabove set forth, the Municipal Judge must draw from the jury box, in the presence of the parties, at a time and place to be set by the court, which shall be at least three days prior to the trial date, 12 ballots, or any greater number if necessary, until the names of 12 persons who are deemed able to attend at the time and place required, are obtained. The Municipal Judge must make and sign a list of the 12 names thus drawn. On motion of the defendant or his or her attorney, or on motion of the City Attorney, or the court on its own motion, one of which may direct that four additional names be drawn as alternate jurors.
(G) If it appears to the Municipal Judge that a person whose name is drawn is dead or resides outside the city, the ballot must be destroyed. If it appears to the Municipal Judge, or he or she has good reason to believe, that a person whose name is drawn is temporarily absent from the city or is in ill health, or so engaged as to be unable to attend at the time and place required without great inconvenience, the ballot must be laid aside, without the name thereon being entered on the list drawn, and returned to the jury box when the drawing is completed. A person whose name is drawn is deemed able to attend within the meaning of this division (G) and division (F) above, and his or her name is deemed to be entered on the list drawn, except as provided in this division (G).
(H) When the aforesaid drawing of 12 names is completed, the city and the defendant, by their representatives, must select a jury by each striking from the list three names alternately commencing with the defendant. The remaining six must be summoned as jurors in the cause. When four names are drawn from the jury box as alternates, each party shall strike one of the names. No peremptory challenges shall be allowed other than as provided herein. No alternate juror shall be summoned to serve at the trial of the action, except when the six principals are not available.
(I) The names of the six jurors selected, as provided in division (H) above, must be inserted in the order to summon a jury, and thereafter the Municipal Judge shall transmit the order to the Chief of Police, who shall summon the six persons so drawn and listed to serve as jurors in the pending cause. The order shall require the jurors to appear before the Municipal Judge forthwith, or at some future time to which the trial of the cause may be postponed. The Chief of Police, or any other police officer of the city, must serve the order by giving notice to each person selected of the time and place he or she is required to appear and for what purpose, and return the same according to the direction therein, with the names of the persons summoned, verified by his or her own certificate.
(J) The six persons drawn and summoned as herein above provided shall constitute the jury for the trial of the cause then pending before the Municipal Court. Neither party shall be entitled to a peremptory challenge as to any of the six jurors, but if any of the six jurors are found to be disqualified by challenge for cause, their places on the jury shall be filled by the alternates, if selected as aforesaid, or by drawing from the jury box by the Municipal Judge in the manner hereinabove stated and subject to being disqualified for cause.
(K) If a person duly summoned to attend the Municipal Court as a juror fails to attend or to give a valid excuse therefor, he or she may be fined by the Municipal Judge in a sum not to exceed $250.
(Prior Code, § 33.02) (Ord. 269, passed 12-7-1959; Ord. 484, passed 6-13-2000)
Statutory reference:
Deposit for trial by jury in criminal cases, see O.R.S. 221.354