trial by battle: see ordeal.

trial: see procedure.

Scopes trial, Tennessee legal case involving the teaching of evolution in public schools. A statute was passed (Mar., 1925) in Tennessee that prohibited the teaching in public schools of theories contrary to accepted interpretation of the biblical account of human creation. John T. Scopes, a biology teacher, was tried (July, 1925) for teaching Darwinism in a Dayton, Tenn., public school. Clarence Darrow was one of Scopes's attorneys, while William Jennings Bryan aided the state prosecutor. Darrow argued that academic freedom was being violated and claimed that the legislature had indicated a religious preference, violating the separation of church and state. He also maintained that the evolutionary theory was consistent with certain interpretations of the Bible, and in an especially dramatic session he sharply questioned Bryan on the latter's literal interpretation. Scopes was convicted, partly because of the defense, which refused to plead any of the technical defenses available, fearing an acquittal on a technical rather than a constitutional basis. Scopes was, however, later released by the state supreme court on a technicality. Although the outcry over the case tended to discourage enactment of similar legislation in other states, the law was not repealed until 1967.

Monkey trial: see Scopes trial.

or trial jury

Group chosen from the citizens of a district to try a question of fact at issue in a trial. Though petit juries in England and the U.S. historically have contained 12 members, there is no uniform number. Numerical requirements for a valid verdict vary (e.g., unanimity in most courts in the U.S., a majority in Scotland and Italy, two-thirds in Portugal). The petit jury is the standard jury for civil and criminal trials. It has less discretion than is often imagined. The trial judge supervises it, rules on what evidence it may view and which laws are applicable, and sometimes directs or, at the end of the trial, sets aside its verdict. Seealso grand jury.

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In customary law, a test of guilt or innocence in which the accused undergoes dangerous or painful tests believed to be under supernatural control. Ordeals by fire or water are the most common. Burns suffered while passing through fire (as in Hindu custom) or rejection (i.e., being buoyed up) by a body of water (as in witch trials) would be regarded as proof of guilt. In ordeal by combat, as in the medieval duel, the victor is said to win not by his own strength but because supernatural powers have intervened on the side of the right.

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Competitive trial of sporting dogs under conditions that approximate or simulate those found in the hunting field. Dogs representing individual breeds, or classes of breeds (e.g., bird dogs, spaniels, hounds), are judged on such factors as pace, range, keenness of nose, handling response, hunting ability, and game and gun manners.

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