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BENCH OR JURY TRIAL FOR A DEFENDANT
1
Bench or Jury Trial for a Defendant
Brittaney Thomas
Saint Leo University
CRJ 552: Criminal Advocacy & Judicial Proceedings
November 28, 2020
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DEPOSITION IN A CIVIL CASE
2
Abstract
In the United States, the court system consists of two different forms of trial. The trial on the
bench is the first form of trial before a judge. No jury is involved in this trial during the trial. The
judge shall find the facts and pass judgment on matters relating to law and procedure. In a jury
trial, the jury includes certain members of the society who find facts. The judgment of the jury is
based on the articulation of the evidence presented by the two parties. The role of the judge in
jury proceedings is to deal with legal and procedural matters. It is therefore always advisable for
a defendant to involve a litigant in making such a decision. The purpose of this paper is to
determine if an accused can choose a bank or jury trial.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DEPOSITION IN A CIVIL CASE
3
The Choice between Bench V. Jury Trial
A defendant can face either a bench or a jury trial during the criminal proceedings. In a
jury trial, the process consists of six to twelve people who are required to pass a verdict on the
basis of the evidence presented. In this case, the accused may be found guilty, convicted or
acquitted. In the jury's proceedings, for example, the judge has the duty to decide the person who
is eligible for a testimony, the nature of the testimony required, and the material evidence
provided. During the bench test, the same procedure is followed. The evidence is presented and
the judge determines whether the accused is guilty or innocent. However a jury trial is one of the
rights underlined in the Constitution of the United States. The problem or rather an issue that
vexed the legal system in the US is the defendant's right to determine whether his or her trial is
carried out by a jury or a bench. In 2015, for example, Dylan Roof was found guilty of killing
and sentenced to death nine African Americans in South Carolina (Lynch, 2016). Nevertheless,
advertising and hostility from members of the community, the accused requested or a jury
proceeding were involved in his case. However under federal regulations, the public prosecutors
can either agree to this request or reject it and have blocked the request promptly.
The public prosecutors' approach to waiving a jury trial is very tactical. This often
happens when it is certain that prosecutors will prevail when the case is handled by the jury.
They usually emphasize that they follow the legal procedure to pass a verdict. In fact, the
defendant is assured of an acquittal by appealing a jury trial. In this respect, the case law in the
American court system is supposed to support the accused rather than the government. In a
bench trial, however the judge has a constitutional mandate to determine the reliability and
integrity of evidence presented during the trial procedure as well as to provide guidelines for the
trial proceedings. A bench test is usually recommended if a speedy test in a legal issue is
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