> In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Left me wondering where the right to unanimous juries comes from, since it doesn't seem to be mentioned in the actual amendment, and the article doesn't really tell me. Even SCOTUS blog, unless I missed it, doesn't say.
Thankfully, there's Wikipedia[1]:
> Originally, the Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial indicated a right to "a trial by jury as understood and applied at common law, and includes all the essential elements as they were recognized in this country and England when the Constitution was adopted." Therefore, it was held that juries had to be composed of twelve persons and that verdicts had to be unanimous, as was customary in England.
The next paragraph was a bit odd in light of my question:
> When, under the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court extended the right to a trial by jury to defendants in state courts, it re-examined some of the standards. It has been held that twelve came to be the number of jurors by "historical accident," and that a jury of six would be sufficient, but anything less would deprive the defendant of a right to trial by jury.
Sure, but what prevents us from calling unanimity a historical accident as well? (Still, personally, I think having to have 12 — or maybe just 6 — people come to agreement on a conviction is for the better. I'd rather let a few guilty people go free than convict an innocent one.)
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Amendment_to_the_United_...