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Finding Guilt or Innocence in a Criminal Trial 

by Richard J. Banta | Jul 13, 2020 | Uncategorized

Criminal Defense Lawyer

During a criminal trial, there are six major steps that must be taken. There is an additional seventh step which ultimately depends on the outcome (known as the acquittal or conviction), but the seventh step is not always carried out. The steps in a criminal trial in order are: jury selection, opening statements, presentation of evidence, closing statements, jury deliberation, and a verdict. If it turns out that the verdict finds the defendant guilty, then the additional step to a criminal trial is known as the sentencing. 

The Job of the Jury 

Unfortunately, televised programs do not display every single step that happens in a criminal trial. This may be too much to watch for some. Thankfully there are actual lawyers to give information about the real world and everything does not have to be shown on television. In the course of a criminal trial, it is the jury’s job to determine if the defendant is guilty of the crime with the evidence that they have received after both the defense and state have both displayed their evidence. The judge will tell the jury that it’s imperative that the law gets enforced in the case that’s going on before the jury is dismissed from the courtroom to go to the jury room to make a decision. 

The judge will do a few things to help them understand, they will:

  • Notify the jury about the legal standards that are involved in the case and let them know that the group that has the responsibility determining how the defendant should rightfully be found as guilty, which is known as the prosecution.
  • Let the jury know that their job is to decide if the defendant should be found as guilty based on the evidence that was presented during the trial, and if the defendant should be convicted of the charges that are being held against them. 
  • Let the jury know that it is their job to come up with a guilty or not guilty verdict for every charge that was listed in the indictment. 
  • Notify the jury that everyone in the has to come up to the same conclusion if a party should be found as guilty. 
  • Inform the jury that it’s their job to make the defendant not guilty if they don’t feel as if the evidence that was displayed during the trial is good enough to support the charges that are being held against the defendant, or if they have reasonable doubt. 

If you or someone you know is going through a criminal trial, be sure to hire an experienced attorney, like a criminal defense attorney in Decatur, GA from The Lynch Law Group, to help throughout the entire process.