Things like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification do exist though, not by procedure but just because the rules can't prevent it, but it's more restricted than many realize and also extremely rare.
Invent a class of legally informed people who can be paid to think about such things and gather experience in it over time.
Sure, make them separate from the judges so it's not all one guy deciding.
I don't think one is inherently right or wrong, it's more a match to ideals. The important thing to note with the current jury system in the US is it's actually preferred they aren't specially informed in law (beyond their given role on the jury) as anything related to legal interpretation is supposed to be done by the rest of the court anyways.
lawyers are legally informed people who are taught how to convince a judge about how the facts explain a certain fact. the judge has to accept the reasoning of one lawyer or the other so the judge needs to be equal to both.
the reasoning is, a common person does not have the knowledge or skills to decide the case.
the lawyers here have to convince a judge for their arguments and facts, not a jury...
imo how can a common person decide a matter of facts or matter of law when they do not possess the skills ?