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Trials are conducted in generally the same way, whether there
is a jury or not. There are a few extra steps in a jury trial,
and jury trials typically take much longer than judge trials.
All trials in the District Court are conducted by a judge; there
are no juries in the District Court.
If the trial is a jury trial, it will begin by picking a jury.
This is called the JURY
VOIR DIRE (pronounced ju-ry vwar deer). The people who
may become jurors are asked questions, sometimes by the judge
and sometimes by both lawyers. A defendant is entitled to be present
in the courtroom for this and for all of stages of the trial.
Each side is entitled to CHALLENGE
a certain number of jurors for no reason at all -- just because
of a “feeling” about them. No explanations are required;
they are excused simply on request. A challenge for no reason
at all is called a PEREMPTORY
CHALLENGE and each side has a limited number of those.
A CHALLENGE for a legal reason (for example, that the juror is
biased, etc.) is called a CHALLENGE
FOR CAUSE. If the judge agrees that the juror is not fair,
the judge will excuse the juror. There are an unlimited number
of challenges for cause.
Once the jurors are selected, they are sworn and take an oath
promising to be impartial. The judge then gives some preliminary
instructions to the jury, explaining how the trial is likely to
progress. The formal beginning of a jury trial comes with the
prosecutor’s OPENING
STATEMENT. This is a brief speech to the jury in which
the prosecutor tells the jury what the state believes the evidence
will show; this is just the prosecutor’s version of what
the testimony will be. After the prosecutor’s opening statement,
the defense lawyer may make an opening statement may wait for
a later opportunity during the trial (or decide not to make an
opening statement at any time).
After the opening statements at a jury trial, or at the beginning
of a judge trial, the testimony will begin. From this point until
near the end of the trial, a jury trial and a judge trial proceed
in basically the same way. And, except for the length of the trial,
a misdemeanor trial and a felony trial proceed in exactly the
same way. The prosecution will first call its witnesses to testify.
The prosecutor will ask questions and its witnesses will answer.
The defense lawyer then will ask questions of the witnesses. When
an attorney is questioning a witness called by his or her side,
that is called DIRECT
EXAMINATION. When an attorney is questioning a witness
called by the other side, that is called CROSS-EXAMINATION.
Along the way, the prosecution may offer documents, called exhibits,
into evidence. Then, once the prosecution is finished putting
on all its witnesses, it will announce, “The State Rests.”
This is the signal that the prosecution has finished with its
witnesses and has no more proof of guilt to offer.
Sometimes, the trial will stop for a little while at this point,
while the attorneys discuss with the Court whether the prosecution
introduced enough testimony to prove the defendant guilty. If
the judge feels that the prosecution was lacking some critical
proof of guilt, it may order at this point that the defendant
be acquitted. If that happens, the prosecution will end. It is
important to know that at this stage, the judge is not deciding
whether to believe the witnesses who testified; s/he must assume
that they are believable at this point and make a decision about
the legal sufficiency of the state’s proof.
After the prosecution rests, the defense has the opportunity
to call its witnesses to testify, if it has any and if it wants
to call them. Questions are first asked by the defense attorney.
The prosecution then has a chance to cross-examine those witnesses.
A defendant may be a defense witness if s/he wants to. No one,
not even the defense attorney, can force a defendant to testify,
and no one can prevent the defendant from testifying. The choice
whether to testify has to be made by the defendant personally.
If the defendant does testify, s/he will be cross-examined by
the prosecution just like any other defense witness. The defense
may introduce exhibits, just like the prosecution. Once all defense
witnesses testify, the defense will announce, “The Defense
Rests.” This signals the end of the defense case.
Occasionally, the prosecution will have another turn at calling
witnesses after the defense witnesses are finished. Even more
occasionally, the defense will have a second turn as well.
Once all the witnesses are finished, both the prosecutor and
defense lawyer will make CLOSING
ARGUMENTS. The defense argues first, explaining all the
reasons why the defendant should be found not guilty. Then the
prosecution will argue its case, explaining all the reasons why
it believes the defendant should be found guilty. If the trial
is a judge trial, the judge will then make a decision, usually
right after hearing the closing arguments. There are only two
possible verdicts: guilty or not guilty (nolo contendere is not
a verdict).
If the case is a jury trial, the jury will make the final decision
and come to a verdict. Before it does so, the judge will give
the CHARGE TO THE
JURY. In the charge, the judge will explain what the law
is that applies to the case. After the jury receives its instructions,
it will go off to a separate room (called the jury room) to deliberate
on its verdict. Depending on what kind of a case it was and how
complicated the evidence the jury may deliberate for several hours
or several days before reaching a verdict of guilty or not guilty.
The jury’s verdict must be unanimous--all twelve jurors
must agree. If the jury acquits (a not guilty finding), the defendant
is free from further prosecution on the same charge forever. If
the jury finds the defendant guilty, the case will continue. Occasionally,
the jurors will not be able to agree on a verdict. When this happens,
it is called a HUNG
JURY. If a jury cannot agree, the prosecution is entitled
to have a second trial, hoping to get a jury which will agree
on a verdict.
If a jury finds guilt, the judge will review the evidence and
decide whether for some reason the trial was unfair and a new
trial should be ordered. A new trial is almost never granted at
this stage.
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