the examination of facts and law presided over by a judge (or other magistrate,
such as a commissioner or judge pro tem) with authority to hear the matter (jurisdiction).
A trial begins with the calling of the parties to come and be heard and selection
of a jury if one has been requested. Each party is entitled to an opening statement
by his/her attorney (or the party if he/she is representing himself/herself), limited
to an outline of what each side intends to prove (the defense may withhold the opening
statement until the defense is ready to present evidence), followed by the presentation
of evidence first by the plaintiff (in a civil case) or prosecution (in a criminal
case), followed by the defense evidence, and then by rebuttal evidence by the plaintiff
or prosecution to respond to the defense. At the conclusion of all evidence each
attorney (plaintiff or prosecution first) can make a final argument which can include
opinion and comment on evidence and legal questions. If it is a jury trial, the
judge will give the jury a series of instructions as to the law of the case, based
on "jury instructions" submitted by the attorneys and approved, rejected, modified
and/or added to by the judge. Then the jury retires to the jury room, chooses a
foreperson and decides the factual questions. If there is no jury, the judge will
determine legal issues and decide factual questions and render (give) a judgment.
A jury will judge the factual issues and decide the verdict based on the law as
given in the instructions by the judge. Final verdict or judgment usually concludes
the trial, although in some criminal cases a further trial will be held to determine
"special circumstances" (acts which will increase the punishment) or whether the
death penalty should be imposed. Throughout a trial there may be various motions
on legal issues, some of which may be argued in the judge's chambers. In most criminal
cases the exact punishment will be determined by the judge at a hearing held at
a later time.
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