Jury

A group, composed of the peers of the parties or a cross section of thecommunity, summoned and sworn to decide on the facts in issue at a trial. Anordinary trial jury is called a petit ("petty") jury. Its function is todetermine issues of fact in civil and criminal cases and to reach a verdict inconjunction with those findings. While the number of jurors has historicallybeen twelve, many states now permit six-member juries in civil cases, and somestates permit six-member juries to hear criminal cases as well.