My understanding is that the U.S. Constitution guarantees a jury trial for any charge which is punishable by jail. States can regulate the terms of the jury - some have smaller juries for offenses punishable by less than a year's incarceration, but IMO they can't deny a jury trial if jail time is involved.
My understanding is that the U.S. Constitution guarantees a jury trial for any charge which is punishable by jail. States can regulate the terms of the jury - some have smaller juries for offenses punishable by less than a year's incarceration, but IMO they can't deny a jury trial if jail time is involved.To be honest with you, I can't explain it either, but DA Hynes conceded that no jury would convict Dixon, some of the papers here wanted the whole thing dropped, but he reduced the charges and was able to move that the dixon would have faced up to a year in jail. I don't know the legal hows, but Hynes was very public about it, and Dixon was dead in the water if that went to a judge.