Arizona

Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure

Rule 18.1 – Trial by Jury

(a)By Jury. The number of jurors required to try a case and render a verdict is provided by law.
(b)Waiver.

(1)Generally. The defendant may waive the right to a trial by jury if the State and the court consent. If the State and the court agree, a defendant also may waive the right to have a jury determine aggravation or the penalty in a capital case.
(2)Voluntariness. Before accepting a defendant’s waiver of a jury trial, the court must address the defendant personally, inform the defendant of the defendant’s right to a jury trial, and determine that the defendant’s waiver is knowing, voluntary, and intelligent.
(3)Form of Waiver. A defendant’s waiver of a jury trial must be in writing or on the record in open court.
(4)Withdrawal of Waiver. With the court’s permission, a defendant may withdraw a waiver of jury trial, but a defendant may not withdraw a waiver after the court begins taking evidence.

Ariz. R. Crim. P. 18.1

Added August 31, 2017, effective January 1, 2018.

COMMENT

Rule 18.1(a). The right of trial by jury is inviolate. A jury must consist of 12 persons in a criminal case in which a sentence of death or imprisonment for 30 years or more is authorized by law. In all such cases, the verdict must be unanimous. In all other cases, a jury must consist of at least 6 jurors, with the number required to render a verdict as specified by law. See generally Ariz. Const. art. 2, § 23 (restating comment); A.R.S. § 21-102 (jury size, degree of unanimity required; waiver); Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S. 78, 103 (1970) (Sixth Amendment does not require 12-person jury in a criminal matter; Sixth Amendment rights not violated by Florida statute providing for a 6-person jury).

The right to a jury trial for misdemeanor offenses extends to charges where the statutory offense has a common law antecedent that guaranteed the right to jury trial at the time of statehood, or where the offense qualifies as a “serious” offense with “additional severe, direct and uniformly applied statutory consequences.” Derendal v. Griffith, 209 Ariz. 416, 423 ¶ 26, 104 P.3d 147, 154 (2005). Statutory offenses with 6 months or less of possible incarceration are presumptively not “serious offenses” unless the “additional grave consequences” of the misdemeanor conviction indicate the legislative determination that the offense is “serious” and mandates a jury. Id. at 422 ¶ 21, 104 P.3d at 153.

Rule 18.1(b). Rule 18.1(b)(1) reflects the constitutional provision that a defendant may waive a jury trial only with the consent of the court and the State. Ariz. Const. art. 6, § 17 (a jury may be waived by the parties in a criminal case with the court’s consent); see also Ariz. R. Crim. P. 41, Form 20 (form for waiving jury trial).

HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES

Former Rule 18.1, relating to trial by jury, was abrogated effective January 1, 2018.