Point of Law: Juries Entitled to Ignore It the Power of Nullification Puts Activists, Jurists at Odds

Fred W. Lindecke Missouri Political Correspondent, St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)

YOU MAY HAVE missed this exchange during the closing arguments of the O.J. Simpson trial.

You can bet that Frank Nugent of Oakland, a member of the Fully Informed Jury Association, didn't.

Marcia Clark: "I've never seen counsel ask for jury nullification in this way."

Judge Ito: "It was very artfully phrased."

For a fleeting moment, jury nullification, a little-known but important point of law dating back to the Magna Carta of 1215, received worldwide attention in the Simpson case.

For an instant, Nugent's pet issue was in the limelight.

Prosecutor Marcia Clark was complaining to Judge Lance Ito about defense attorney Johnnie Cochran's …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Point of Law: Juries Entitled to Ignore It the Power of Nullification Puts Activists, Jurists at Odds. Contributors: Fred W. Lindecke Missouri Political Correspondent - Author. Newspaper title: St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO). Publication date: October 25, 1995. Page number: 5B. © 2008 St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.