The court hearing in a criminal case can be very different from what you may have seen on television and in the movies. If you have been accused of a crime and you are facing a court hearing, it’s best to hire a criminal defense lawyer to represent you in court. A criminal lawyer like one from Curcillo Law LLC In Chambersburg PA can not only represent you in court, but can also go over all the questions you may have about the court hearing.
There are two main types of court hearing to settle a criminal case, but in most cases you will have a hearing in front of a judge and jury. The jury will be selected by both the defense and the prosecution to ensure that they are selected fairly. There will also be at least one alternative juror in case one of the jury members cannot finish the case. The trial by jury ensures that you are judged by a group of your peers, so the selection process is very important.
The next part of the trial will be the opening statements, the evidence and witnesses, and the closing statements. Both the prosecutor and the defense attorney will speak during the opening statements. They speak to the jury and introduce the case, explaining why they think you are guilty or not guilty. The evidence is then shown to the jury and any witnesses are brought forward to speak. If there are extensive amounts of evidence or a large number of witnesses, this may take more than just one or two days. After the evidence is shown, the prosecutor and defense attorneys will take turns giving their closing statements.
Those are the basic steps that you will go through if you have a jury trial for a criminal offense. It can be more complicated than that when the attorneys for either side present motions to the court. These motions can include suppression of evidence, a motion to drop the charges, or motions to strike something a witness has said from the record. This is why it’s important to have a criminal defense attorney on your side. A criminal defense attorney, such as one from Curcillo Law LLC In Chambersburg PA, can walk you through this process and help you to get the best result possible from your case.
