TRIALS

"You want justice go to a whorehouse. You want to get f-cked go to court."

The eighth and final step is the jury trial. If you answer ready on this date you will be assigned out to trial court, and your trial will begin within a day or so. There must be a unanimous verdict for guilt. There will usually be 12 jurors and 2 alternates. In some cases a jury trial is waived and the defendant is tried before only a judge. This is called a court trial.
Defendants must be brought to trial within a specified time period. For felony cases, it is within 60 days of arraignment on the information, unless the defendant agrees or consents to a later date. For misdemeanors, it is within 30 days of arraignment on the complaint, if the defendant is in custody at arraignment, and within 45 days from the arraignment if the defendant is out of custody at arraignment, unless, the defendant agrees or consents to a later date. There are five basic parts to a jury trial: jury voir dire (questioning) and selection, opening statements, presentation of evidence (divided into People's case, defense case, and People's rebuttal), closing arguments, and verdict and sentencing.

On the date set for trial, the judge will hold a pre-voir dire conference with lawyers. At this conference, the parties will present a brief outline of the nature of the case, identify witnesses, the People's theory of liability and defendant's theories, how jury selection shall begin. Occasionally both parties will waive a jury, in which case the judge will determine whether the defendant is guilty or not. Otherwise, a jury must be selected to make that determination.

Jury selection begins with the judge directing the clerk to call the jury assembly room in the courthouse, and have a panel of prospective jurors sent to the courtroom. In a typical criminal case, a panel is composed of 30 or 35 prospective jurors. To obtain such panels, the Jury Commissioner must summon prospective jurors to court. Names of prospective jurors are obtained from the property tax rolls, licensed driver rolls, and registered voter rolls. Persons summoned receive a court order to appear for jury duty, unless disqualified or excused. Everyone is eligible to be a trial juror, except non-citizens, minors (under age 18), non-residents of California, non-residents of the county, convicted felons, persons who do not possess a sufficient knowledge of English, persons already serving as a trial grand juror, and persons who are the subject of a conservatorship.

When the jury panel arrives at the courtroom, attendance is taken by the bailiff or the clerk. Then, the prospective jurors are ushered into the courtroom and seated in the gallery. They are welcomed by the judge and administered an oath to truthfully answer all questions concerning his or her qualifications to be a juror. Next, the clerk calls and seats a group of prospective jurors. In many courts, this initial group is composed of 18 prospective jurors: twelve in the jury box and six seated in front of the box.

Once the first group of prospective jurors are seated, the judge gives a brief introduction to the case by introducing the attorneys, the court staff, the defendant and the witnesses, telling the prospective jurors about the charges, explaining the burden of proof and how voir dire will proceed. The judge then orally examines each juror individually in open court on the record. Once that is completed, the judge will allow the attorneys to also briefly examine the prospective jurors.

Once the judge and the attorneys have examined all of the prospective jurors, the judge invites the attorneys to the side bar, outside the hearing of the prospective jurors. There, the attorneys offer any challenges "for cause" as to any prospective jurors. A challenge "for cause" means that the juror does not meet the qualifications to serve as a juror, because he/she lives in another country, has a bias against the defendant, has pre-judged the case, has a bias for or against law enforcement officers, or similar grounds for believing that the juror cannot be fair and impartial. Once the challengers are made, the judge rules on them. If granted, the prospective juror is thanked by the judge and excused. Challenges for cause occasionally occur.

Once Challenges for cause are handled, the judge and the attorneys return to open court and the parties begin to exercise peremptory challenges. In most criminal cases, each side has 10 peremptory challenges. In death penalty and life imprisonment cases, each side has 20 peremptory challenges. If there are multiple defendants, then the defendants receive 10 joint challenges, which can only be exercised by mutual agreement of the defendants, plus five additional separate challenges for each defendant. The prosecutor receives the same number of challenges as all defendants have jointly and separately.
Once both sides are either out of peremptory challenges or accept the 12 prospective jurors, the 12 are sworn in as jurors. The judge and attorneys also select one to four alternate jurors (in very long or complex trials sometimes more than four), who will also be seated and hear the evidence, but who will not participate in deliberations unless one of the 12 regular jurors is excused from the panel.

Normally, jurors are allowed to return home at the end of each court day and are free to go elsewhere during breaks, such as the lunch recess. In a few cases, however, where there is a concern that the jury may be influenced by outside publicity or public pressure, the court may order the jurors sequestered. In that case, the bailiff has full time charge of the jury, and provides food and lodging to the jurors during trial, at public Expense. Jurors who are sequestered have only limited contact with those outside the court system, including family and friends. They are also limited in the material they can read and the television programs they can watch.

Once the jurors and alternate jurors are seated, the trial begins. First, most judges give the jury a brief introduction to the case and the participants in the trial and some preliminary instructions on how to approach their duties. This usually includes reading the criminal complaint or information, introducing the lawyers, and defendant and court staff to the jury, explaining the quantum of proof necessary before the jury can find a defendant guilty (proof beyond a reasonable doubt), and explaining about direct and circumstantial evidence.

Next, the lawyers may make opening statements, with the prosecutor going first. These statements are a brief "road map" for the jury and judge about what each side expects the evidence to prove. The statements are expected to be factual and not argumentative. It is common for the defense to reserve its opening statement until after the close of the prosecutor's case, but sometimes the defenses will give its opening statement immediately after the prosecutor's.

Once these preliminary matters are completed, the prosecutors "case-in-chief" begins, with the prosecutor calling percipient and expert witnesses who have relevant testimony. Percipient witnesses are witnesses who saw or heard or experienced something that is relevant to the defendant's guilt or innocence. An example of a classic percipient witness would be a crime victim or eyewitness. Expert witnesses testify about subjects that are usually technical or scientific, but can testify on any subject not within the common experience of most persons and who are qualified by education, training or experience.

The witnesses are first examined (questioned) by the prosecutor. The defense can object to any question that the defense thinks is not allowed by the rules of evidence. The prosecutor can then again examine the witness, but the examination is limited to the scope of the cross-examination. This second examination of the witness is called re-direct examination. This back-and-forth process continues until both sides excuse the witness. During its case-in-chief, the prosecutor may also introduce exhibits. Exhibits are things such as a gun, the results of a lab test of blood for the presence of drugs, a lab test on a substance in defendant's possession showing the substance to be illegal narcotics, or a forged check.

After the prosecution has completed its evidence, the prosecution rests. At this point, the defendant may make a motion for a judgment of acquittal, also called a Penal Code section 118 motion. In bringing this motion, the defendant is claiming that the evidence then before the court is so insufficient as to one or more counts that no rational jury would convict. If granted, the charge is dismissed. If denied, the defense phase of the case begins.

It is important to remember that a defendant never has to prove his or her innocence, and a defendant does not have to say anything, do anything or prove anything. The burden of proving the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt always remains with the prosecution. If the defendant chooses to do so, at this point, the defendant may present his or her witnesses and exhibits, with the prosecutor being able to object and cross-examine. The defendant may even decide to waive his or her constitutional right to remain silent, and testify, subject, of course, to cross-examination by the prosecutor. Alternatively, the defense will occasionally rest without presenting any evidence. This is usually occurs when the defense believes that the prosecutor has not proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

If the defense puts on evidence, afterwards, the prosecution may offer rebuttal evidence. The prosecutor may not, however, fill in gaps in the case-in-chief under the guise of rebuttal evidence.
Once both sides have rested, the judge will then instruct the jury on the applicable law by reading the jury, jury instructions. These instructions are usually standardized instructions and include such things how to evaluate the evidence, the standard proof required (beyond a reasonable doubt), the elements of each charge that has to be proved and some guidelines on how to conduct deliberations. If there is a dispute as to what law applies to the case, the judge will decide what instructions to give.

Finally, the parties are allowed closing argument, where each side argues what it believes the evidence shows and what inferences the jury must draw from the evidence. The prosecutor, because he or she has the burden of proof, is allowed two arguments: the opening argument and a rebuttal argument to answer the defendant's argument. The defendant only argues once, but may waive argument, in which case the prosecutor is not allowed rebuttal.

When all argument is completed. The case is submitted to the jury for a verdict. The bailiff takes custody of the jury and to ensure that the jury's deliberations are not interfered with by outside information or persons. The jury is required to decide the case based only on the evidence presented at trial, reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence and the applicable law. The jury is not allowed to conduct a further investigation, or consult other sources or persons. To insure that there are no outside influences, the jury retires to a private room to conduct its deliberations.
The first thing a jury does is select a foreperson, who then leads the discussion. Any member of the jury may be the foreperson. Then they decide the charges, one by one. Once deliberations are completed, if the jury has reached a unanimous verdict one way or the other on each charge, the foreperson advises the bailiff and is conducted back into court.

Once back in court, the judge has the clerk read the verdict(s). It is customary for the defendant and his or her attorney to stand and face the jury when the verdicts are read. Once read, the clerk asks the jury if those are the jurors' true verdicts. The jury answers as a group. If a guilty verdict to some or all of the charges, the defense usually asks that the jurors be polled individually. If polled, the clerk asks each juror, by juror number "Juror No.1, is that your verdict?" and the juror answers "yes" or "no." If the verdict is recorded, the jury is thanked and discharged, and sentence is either pronounced immediately, or a time for sentencing is set. If out of custody, the judge may remand the defendant into custody, pending sentencing. If there is a not guilty verdict as to all charges, the jury is not usually polled. The jury is again discharged and the defendant is also discharged, which means that the court loses jurisdiction over the defendant and he or she is free to leave.

Occasionally, the jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict on some or all of the charges. In such cases, the jury is said to be deadlocked or hung. When the foreperson advises the judge that the jury cannot agree upon a verdict, the judge may inquire of each juror whether any further deliberation would be helpful, or if additional instructions would be helpful. If the foreperson indicates which charge the jurors cannot agree upon, the judge may even allow the attorneys to reopen closing argument and reargue as to that charge. If, after any further deliberation, the jury cannot unanimously agree upon a verdict, the judge will declare a mistrial, and discharge the jury. The judge may reset the case for a new trial or dismiss the charges.

In non-death penalty cases, if the defendant is convicted of at least one of the charges, the next phase is the sentencing. If it is a death penalty case, the next part is the penalty phase. This is where the prosecution presents evidence as to why this defendant is deserving of the death penalty. The defense presents mitigating evidence as to why this particular defendant should not be sentenced to death. The jury then decides if the sentence should be death or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.