Supporters of Jury Initiative to Allow Convictions by 10 Members Halt Campaign

Backers of a proposed November ballot initiative that would allow convictions by just 10 members of a jury in criminal cases have halted their campaign, saying they don’t have enough time or money to finish the effort.

“We currently don’t have the funds or time necessary to guarantee a successful qualification effort this time out,” Greg Totten, executive director of the California District Attorneys Assn., said Wednesday. He said the supporters of the initiative, Citizens for a Safer California, would “restart the clock by refiling the initiative with the attorney general’s office in the very near future.”

The initiative’s backers were given 150 days to qualify the measure. About 60 days remained to gather the required 693,230 valid signatures.

The initiative would have allowed a jury to return a verdict in a criminal case if at least 10 of the 12 jurors agree on the verdict. Under current law, jury verdicts must be unanimous.

The proposal also would have prohibited conjugal visits for convicted sex offenders.