Jury Consideration of Parole

Under our system of criminal justice, a jury faces two basic decisions: the determination of guilt and, in many cases, the selection of an appropriate penalty for the convicted. In both instances the jurors\u27 impressions of the parole system could be crucial. For example, the jury\u27s notion—correct or incorrect—that the defendant will be eligible for parole very quickly if sentenced to prison may cause it to compromise on the issue of guilt. In cases where the jury has discretion in setting the penalty, this notion may seduce it into selecting the death penalty over life imprisonment. There are additional problems connected with jury consideration of parole. Even if it is a desirable jury consideration, it is impossible to anticipate how parole will affect a particular defendant since the law itself might change and since the actual granting of parole will rest on post-conviction factors and the discretion of the parole board. If, on the other hand, it is thought undesirable for the jury to consider parole, what should be the policy of the law in view of the fact that many jurors will undoubtedly carry into the trial parole knowledge obtained independently? The great number of times jurors are informed at trial of the possibility of parole indicates the importance of the subject. This article proposes to evaluate the attitude of the law towards giving this information to a jury. The discussion will consider the desirability of the jury\u27s being informed about the parole possibility, the role of the harmless error rule, and the relationship that the source and the context of the informing have to the problem