The way the Swedish system worked, lay judges were politically appointed and were not trained lawyers. The city court’s two qualified members had voted not to convict. That meant that the person who had been convicted of murdering a politician had, in fact, been convicted by people who were politically appointed. It was as if only carpenters would form the jury in the case of a murdered carpenter. Lay judges were obviously emotionally engaged in finding and sentencing the murderer. The members of the court with backgrounds in law, who were experienced in considering evidence, on the other
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