Die zwölf Geschworenen

In the organizer's words:

It is the hottest day of the year. A thunderstorm is in the air. On this day, the last day of a serious and in itself clear murder trial with an almost overwhelming burden of proof takes place: A 19-year-old from a slum neighborhood stabbed his father to death with an extremely conspicuous switchblade knife during an argument.

The prosecution presented two credible witnesses. Both witnessed the youth committing the crime and saw him run away shortly after. Reginald Rose's play, "The Twelve Jurors," picks up with the end of the trial as the jury retires to deliberate.

We are introduced to twelve New York men and women of completely different character and temperament, whose only commonality is having been determined to render a unanimous verdict in this murder trial. In a confined room, closed off from the outside world, they deliberate. Since the case is clear, the session is expected to end quickly.

Eleven of the jurors immediately agree: the defendant is guilty. One, however, goes against the majority: he has a "reasonable doubt" and therefore pleads not guilty. The decision on life and death of a human being is worth at least a fair discussion to him.

The incomprehension of the fellow jurors is great. They try to convince the doubter of their guilty verdict with more or less valid arguments. The witness statements are discussed again in detail, the murder weapon is looked at again, as are the crime scene plan and the motive. And suddenly, after closer analysis, the evidence no longer seems at all clear. Heated tempers clash, friction, disputes dominate the discussion. The atmosphere in the room is tense to the breaking point. But little by little, the wall of prejudices and quick conclusions becomes crumbling...

How high is the risk of executing an innocent man? This content has been machine translated.