Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

"The U.S. inherited its jury system from England, and in England juries have consisted of 12 people since the fourteenth century, for reasons nobody quite sure of...But a jury can constitutionally consist of as few as six persons. The size of juries tends to vary depending on the state and the seriousness of the charge. For example, California requires 12-person juries for both felony and misdemeanor trials, except that the state and the defendant may agree to less than 12-person juries in misdemeanors. Florida law provides for six-person juries on non-capital cases and 12-person juries in capital cases." -From, "The Criminal Law Handbook" By: Bergman & Barrett