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Jury Trial
A small number of people accused of crimes actually end up going through a full blown jury trial. A vast majority have their cases closed via a plea agreement, or via motion practice (either dismissal or suppression) followed by a plea or dismissal. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want or need an attorney who is well versed in trial knowledge and experience. Every aspect of a criminal case is analyzed and negotiated based on the reasonably anticipated outcome at trial for either party, the State or the Defense. Basically, the better your attorney is at knowing how to win at pretrial hearings and ultimately how well they perform in a trial can affect plea bargains and improve the final outcome you receive.
If you want a trial or not, it might be helpful to know generally what one looks like from a layman’s perspective. To begin with there are multiple court dates leading up to a trial, called either case management conferences, pretrial conferences, or trial status conferences. The purpose of any or all of these court meetings that are held in public courtrooms is it gives the judge and the parties an opportunity to ensure that the trial can occur on time and the presentation of evidence will proceed as planned with a range of acceptable deviation based on the circumstances. That means the Judge may ask the parties about witness availability, if there are any motions to be filed by either party that need to be discussed before the trial, and how long any issues that may arise may take. Generally after these conferences there will be a actual trial date scheduled, and at that time a jury will be selected and a trial will begin thereafter.
A jury selection will be conducted by your attorney and the state attorney in the presence of the Judge. During this process the parties will be allowed to question the jurors individually.
Jury Selection (Voir Dire)
This is the process by which the jury is selected.
In jury selection, a panel of between eighteen to thirty people is questioned, from which six people will be selected to sit as jurors in your trial. One or two more jurors may be selected as alternates in case one of the primary jurors is unable to serve later.
Each side is allowed to fully question the jury panel to determine bias or prejudice or any other reasons why a person isn’t appropriate to serve as a juror. The state’s attorney questions the panel first and the defense follows.
Once questioning is complete, both sides are allowed three peremptory strikes in a misdemeanor trial, six peremptory strikes in a felony trial. Peremptory strikes allow a person to be stricken from the jury panel for any reason. The parties will be given time to privately discuss the answers to the previously answered questions and develop a strategy of who to select and who to strike before the judge beings asking the parties publicly (but not in the presence of the jurors) who they accept.
Additionally, a juror may be struck for cause if they indicate that they have a fixed opinion that will not allow them to follow the law or for some reason cannot be fair and impartial or serve as a juror. This could be anything from saying that they would require the defendant to testify, to saying they don’t believe in the concept of be innocent until proven guilty, to equivocating on whether they will not consider bad experiences in their own life from biasing them towards or against one of the parties.
A juror that the court excuses for cause is not counted against the peremptory strikes that each side is allowed and the juror is simply discharged. Eventually a panel is accepted or determined to be final (and objections preserved if any) and the Jury is sworn to hear the case. A start date for the trial is chosen later in the week, then the parties along with the Judge, witnesses, jurors and anyone else meets on that date to begin the trial.
On the morning of the trial the first event of legal significance is someone makes a motion to invoke the rule of sequestration. The Sequestration of the Witnesses is a rule of criminal procedure. This is a rule of procedure invoked after jury selection is completed. All witnesses are brought forward to the court, and instructed that they must stay outside of the courtroom until called and are not to discuss the case with any other witness. Thereafter the trial begins and is conducted in stages.
Opening Statements
This is where the parties advise the jury what they believe the evidence will show.
The opening statement is not an argument, but rather an uninterrupted story of what the trial will show, through the evidence and testimony. Since the State has the burden of proving the charges, they address the jury first, and the defense follows. It is essentially each party addressing the jury and telling them what they believe the evidence will show to create a smooth flow of presentation later.
Presentation of the Evidence
The State presents its case first, primarily through the calling of witnesses to testify but could be through additional methods. They could introduce documents through record certificates, judicial notice, or stipulation. The State may call its witnesses in any order they determine but most likely they occur in somewhat chronological order from the perspective of law enforcement. They may call all or just some of the people they have listed on the witness list, but there should be no surprises about who is possibly going to be called due to the Florida rules of discovery.
At the conclusion of the State’s direct examination, the defense attorney cross-examines the state witnesses at their choosing. Cross-examination is a defense attorney’s opportunity to establish any issues the defense has with the case entirely if possible. They Could attack credibility, establish motive or bias, point out investigative flaws, point to other suspects, or follow any number of strategies based on the unique circumstances of the case. Depending on the testimony the witness has given, the Defense may ask many questions, or in some cases, no questions.
Objections
During the presentation of evidence, attorneys may object for a variety of legal reasons, which must be stated at the time the objection is made, but are not full sentences (which would be considered a speaking objection). Jurors are instructed at the conclusion of the trial that they are not to consider an objection or the subject matter of the objection if it is sustained. Many times the Court will ask the lawyers to approach on a particular objection in order to make a legal argument outside of the jury’s presence.
A Defendant’s Role During Trial
The Defendant is a valuable resource during the trial to the attorney but may not completely understand the technical legal aspects of the case. A Defendant should listen carefully to all testimony and comments by the Judge and prosecutor, and be ready to point out inconsistencies or misstatements to the attorney either orally or by taking notes to discuss during a break.
Close of the State’s Case
Once the State has called all the witnesses and presented all evidence they wish, they will rest their case. The Court allows the Defense to make a Motion for Judgment of Acquittal (JOA). A JOA asks the Court to find that the State has failed to make a sufficient showing to allow the specific charge to go to the jury. Granting a JOA is very rare, since the State gets a special standard of review where the Judge examines the evidence “in light most favorable to the non-moving party” and if they have met this low standard then the case proceeds normally.
The Defense’s Case
The defense is not required to call witnesses, and the Court tells the jury this at several points in the trial. If defense witnesses are called, the same rules that applied to the State’s witness apply to defense witnesses. A defense attorney may call all or just some defense witnesses, depending on how the testimony is coming out, similar to how the State is in control of which witnesses it calls, the defense has the same control of its own case. Part of the defense presentation (if any other than cross-examination and argument) there is the decision of whether or not the Defendant wishes to testify which is their constitutional right.
You have the absolute right to testify or remain silent and the Court will instruct the jury of this several times during the course of the case. To testify or not is often a strategic decision that is made by the lawyer and client, but ultimate decision making rests with the client. The client is questioned on the record what their decision is, and if they have had time to confer with counsel. They will also be informed that if they testify they will be treated as any other witness and subject to cross examination and if they have any impeachable convictions the number can be introduced.
State’s Rebuttal
Once the Defendant has rested, the State is permitted to put on witnesses to rebut a specific point about which the Defendant or Defendant’s witness has testified. The same rules apply to them as all other witnesses. These witnesses must be on the witness list, so there are no surprises. It is not an opportunity to simply repeat the same evidence from the State’s earlier presentation.
Closing Argument
After all the evidence is presented, each side makes its closing arguments to the jury. Each side is allowed equal time for closing argument. The State has the opportunity to speak first, and then also gets to speak again after the Defense gives its argument. (sometimes referred to as a ‘sandwich’).
The Jury’s Role
At the conclusion of closing arguments, the judge then tells the jury the laws and rules to be applied during the jury’s deliberation. The jury then deliberates in a jury room until they reach a unanimous verdict of either guilty or not guilty. Depending on the severity of the charges you face, a jury can also find a defendant guilty of a lesser crime. The jury will also be instructed that if they have any questions they can write them down and give them to the bailiff who will pass them on to the Judge, who will read and discuss the question with all parties present. If the jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict, then a mistrial is announced and the case will be reset for a new trial at a later date.
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If you or a loved one have been arrested or charged with a crime in Gainesville Florida, contact Criminal Defense Lawyer Matt Landsman today for the criminal defense you deserve.
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