Ian Marthaler Mrs. Coplin Composition 13 March 2023 Reasonable Doubt in The Justice System In the play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, twelve jury members must decide whether the son is guilty of murdering his father. They must unanimously agree on whether the son is guilty or not guilty based on the facts. At the start of the juror meeting, the jurors voted, and the only person to vote not guilty was juror eight. He said he wanted to talk about the case before deciding whether the son was guilty. Juror eight shows a great reason for proving how the facts and witnesses in court create doubt in him. He slowly persuades all the jurors until it comes down to juror three who says the kid is guilty only because his own son and him got in a fight. The jurors deliberated about the facts using common sense and reasonable doubt to decide that he was not guilty. Reginald Rose shows that reasonable doubt is an important part of the justice system in the play because it refutes evidence shown and also determines the outcome of a defendant's life. …show more content…
The jurors thought the knife was one of its kind, therefore, making the kid guilty of killing his father. Juror eight proves this wrong by showing them the same knife as the murder weapon. (Rose 23) This could mean that somebody else could have the same knife and have killed him. Not only was the weapon the same but the way the stab wound was had made the jurors doubt the facts. They knew the stab wound was in a downward motion which is only made by inexperienced users, the doubt was created because they knew the kid was raised in the slums so he knew how to handle a switchblade. (Rose 61) Experienced switchblade users hold the blade underhand and make an upward motion. This created reasonable doubt in many of the jurors and was one of the most important pieces of evidence that helped the jurors decide the life saving outcome for the