If every simple possession arrest demanded a jury trial it would grid lock the judicial system within 30 days and probably a lot quicker than that. Then if everyone eligible would ask for a court appointed attorney it should balance out every states stressed budget nicely. Keep in mind we are now a majority which means any jury panel will have at least 4 legalization supporters in the jury and it only takes one to refuse to convict. Every DA has to consider the probability of gaining a conviction and getting any kind of conviction on a non-violent marijuana crime being the lowest it has ever been,hundreds of possession trials will stress test both his prosecution skills and his ability to do his job. Judges will be screaming for more courts,and all for possession of plant matter. All it takes is cajones. Even more expensive is if any that can will sit out there fines/time on weekends. If they quit making money off of us they will leave us alone.
Just because it's the majority now does not mean you will get at least 4 legalization supporters in the jury.
It will be hard for a DA to pick a jury without at least 4 but I am sure you will have at least 1 and 1 is all it takes,,,,and some balls.
Does having a prior mj conviction automatically exclude you from a jury on a mj case due to conflict of interest?
^That seems likely, but I don't know for sure. I would like to know the answer to that question though.
Honestly, if people ever did this, they would probably just toss half the cases and move on. It wouldn't make the system grind to a halt. And just because half the country is for legalization doesn't mean they would hesitate to decide that a guilty person is guilty.