The various legal procedures which are associated with today’s criminal trials have developed over the centuries. The state and the federal government should follow a uniform set of procedures. This criminal justice process will vary from one state to another. Also the federal criminal justice has its rules, the procedures and also the terms describing the stages of the proceedings. Delays can be there from one stage to the other. When these cases go quickly, the process can accurately be described as the assembly line. The trial comes after the arrest and it is an amazing process.
A court trial is also called the bench trial or the jury trial. This happens when all the facts of the case have been heard and the judge or the jury makes his or her final decision concerning the court case. This trial should be held in a speedy fashion, unless this defendant requests for an additional time, so that he can prepare for the defense. If this defendant is charged with a crime which is punishable within the duration of six or more months of imprisonment, he will have a right to a public trial by the jury. Also the defendant can choose to wave the right by either pleading to be guilty or by agreeing to get tried by the judge (Moak and Carlson 151).
The good thing about this procedure is that there are some circumstances when the defendant may choose the bench trial and not the jury trial. First are the cases which have some technical legal issues that the jury may not understand easily. Second, the cases which the defendant will fear that the jury might be inflamed by the way the charges are and also be unable to judge the evidence which is in the case objectively (Moak and Carlson 167).
Another amazing thing about this procedure is that during the trial, the defendants have a right to bring their witnesses and any other evidence that they have in the defense of the criminal charge. Here the defendant is also free to cross-examine those witnesses who are brought by the prosecution.
Work cited
Moak, C. Stacy, and Ronald, L. Carlson. Criminal Justice Procedure. London: Routledge, 2014. Print.
