THE CRIMINAL TRIAL PROCESS

BY CRIMPSYCH

The first step of a Criminal Trial is the trial initiation

The speedy trial act requires that anyone accused of a crime receives a speedy trial with in reason. Normally trials must start 70 days after the indictment unless there are extenuating circumstances

JURY SELECTION
The second step of a trial is jury selection Jury Selection is broken down into 3 parts Formation of a master jury list Creation of the venire Venire: List of prospective jurors Voir Dire: surveying prospective jurors to ascertain if they will have any biases toward the case Here the defense and the prosecution have the opportunity to give peremptory challenges to dismiss a certain number of jurors During Jury selection the prosecution and the defense will each pick members who seem to be able to participate in the trial with competence and free from biases

 In a criminal Trial opening statements initiate the proceedings. Due to the burden of proof that must be presented in a trial the prosecution is allowed to be the first and the last to speak to the jury Both the defense and the prosecution utilize opening statements as a way to give a concise introduction into the evidence they will be delivering Here both parties also discuss the trial results they would like to see

OPENING STATEMENTS
During opening statements the judge and the jurors are charged with listening to the each parties speech to get a preliminary understanding of the case Opening statements are a very influential tool in a trial because they get jurors to start thinking critically about all the evidence that they will be given

 There are two key types of evidence

Direct evidence
Any evidence that can directly verify a fact
An example of this is DNA evidence

Circumstantial evidence
Evidence that assumptions must be drawn from

As well as being able to give their opening statements first the prosecution is also able to give their evidence first During the Presentation of Evidence both the prosecution and the defense may supply witnesses and evidence to their cases that can be questioned and rebutted by the opposing side Both parties of the case may cross examine the opposition's witness's in order to find inaccuracies or flaws in the evidence

PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE
During the Presentation of Evidence the judge and the jury must be focused and critical of the evidence they are hearing and taking note of key points to utilize during deliberation During this stage of the trial the judge is also responsible for ensuring that both the prosecution and defense are presenting their evidence and asking questions in a law abiding and respectable fashion The judge is also responsible for ruling on objections Throughout this stage victims and witnesses will give their testimony under oath when they are requested on the stand. The accused may also give their testimony at this stage of the trial.

 The last opportunity for the defense and the prosecution to speak to the jury is during closing arguments During this step both parties are able to summarize the evidence they provided and reiterate challenges to the opposing sides evidence and theories Closing statements are very important for both parties because it is the last time either side can address any confusion and expose flaws in the oppositions case This stage is a very instrumental part of the trial because jurors and the judge are able to put all the pieces of a case into together for them to deliberate on The judge and the jury must listen to the closing statements carefully so that they may have all the information they need for deliberation

JUDGES CHARGE TO THE JURY

The charge to the jury is the judges opportunity to provide instructions to them and explain the importance of the role they play in the court During this step the judge can discuss the jurys responsibility of objectively reviewing the evidence and making a decision solely on what they were presented. Here the jury is to listen to the judges instructions to utilize during deliberation

Jury deliberations is a complicated process that can range in time from an hour to several weeks During this time the jury attempts to arrive at a unanimous decision establishing the accuseds guilt or innocence by critically considering all the information they gathered during the course of the hearing In most cases a unanimous decision is needed for verdict to be drawn but that this is not always the case When the jury can not come to a decision the trial is declared a mistrial and the prosecution can request to try the case again at another time

 Once a verdict is reached is it is read by the jury or the judge to all of those in the court If the suspect is found innocent they will be released shortly after the trial and can never be tried for that same crime again If a guilty verdict is determined the suspect will likely be taken into custody to await sentencing