Famous Jury Trials is a radio court show/dramatic anthology series in the United States. It began on January 5, 1936, and ended June 25, 1949. It is considered a program that initiated the popular court show genre, which would later begin broadcasting from television.
Famous Jury Trials had the effect of taking a listener into an actual courtroom so that he or she could hear a trial as it proceeded. At the beginning of each episode, the judge was heard as he instructed the jury, "Be just and fear not, for the true administration of justice is the foundation of good government." The show's set was designed as a courtroom, including a jury box containing 12 jurors and a judge clad in a black robe. The judge sat on a high bench with the witness chair to his left and the clerk at a desk in front. Adding to the effect of realism for listeners, the program was "delivered flat, without music."
As the title implies, the program re-enacted trials from history. Although the scripts were described by radio historian John Dunning as "almost entirely fictionalized," they resulted from thorough research. A 1942 newspaper article noted, "The legal fireworks are checked for scriptural realism" by attorney and law historian Martin H. Young. Among the well-known trials featured were those of Captain Kidd, Benedict Arnold, and Aaron Burr. A 1937 review of the program said, "[I]t carries the morbid interest and suspense that is characteristic of such melodramas."
Famous Jury Trials introduced the device of having a reporter provide an account of an event from history, a technique that a review in Radio Mirror magazine called one of the program's "novel devices." The technique was used 15 years later in You Are There.
As an anthology series, Famous Jury Trials had few regular cast members. Maurice Franklin starred as the judge. Roger DeKoven and DeWitt McBride were reporter-narrators.
Includes 23 Episodes!
Some Of The Episodes On This CD-R:
Famous Jury Trials 411202 - [056] State Vs Thomas Crosby [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials 470503 - [337] People vs Radin.mp3
Famous Jury Trials 470510 - [338] People Vs Stevens.mp3
Famous Jury Trials 480925 - [410] People vs. Irene Miller.mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [003] State Vs Helga Temple [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [007] State Vs Vincent Carter [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [008] People Vs Roger Unthank [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [010] State Vs John & Emily Renolds [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [011] State Vs William Wright [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [013] People vs Vernon Craig [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [016] Imperial Germany Vs Edith Cavell [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [018] Trial of Aaron Burr [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [023] State Vs Fisk [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [027] People Vs James Brown [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [028] State Vs Henry Kellog [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [032] People Vs Arthur Phillips [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [037] State Vs Polly Conrad [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [042] People Vs James Talland [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [052] State Vs Charles Mack [Aust].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [xxx] People vs Clara Davis [AU].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [xxx] State vs Aaron Burr [AU].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [xxx] State vs John Dudley [AU].mp3
Famous Jury Trials xxxxxx - [xxx] The Newcastle Train Murder [AU].mp3