Staten v. State

Judgments entered in the Criminal Court of Baltimore against James David Staten, Jr. upon convictions under four indictments jointly tried are reversed because he was denied a jury trial.

Amendment VI to the Constitution of the United States guarantees “[i]n 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 * * The history of the development of trial by jury in criminal cases reveals “a long tradition attaching great importance to the concept of relying on a body…