Trials and Verdicts

Trials and Verdicts

David D. Ahmed

Strayer University

Introduction to Criminal Justice

CRJ 100

Ms. Idonia K. Barrett

TRIALS AND VERDICTS

  One of the most significant questions of law is whether a given court has jurisdiction to oversee a given case. A jurisdictional question may be broken down into three components: whether there is jurisdiction over the person, whether there is jurisdiction over the subject matter, and whether there is jurisdiction to render the judgment sought. Also there are different courts that have jurisdiction depending on the case. State courts have general jurisdiction, meaning that they can hear any controversy except those prohibited by their specific state laws. Federal courts have limited jurisdiction in that they can only hear cases that fall both within the scope defined by the United States Constitution.

A trial is the plaintiff's opportunity to argue his or her case, in the hope of obtaining a judgment against the defendant. A trial also represents the defendant's chance to refute the plaintiff's case, and to offer his or her own evidence related to the dispute at issue. During those sixty minutes, the audience is shown a small glimpse of all the work that lawyers and prosecutors go through in order to win a case. In order to keep individuals captivated by what’s going on these shows practically fly through the entire judicial process in a matter of moments. While in reality one of those criminal case may take up to a few months or a few years before it’s completed.Some of the reasons that one of these cases might take so long to complete is that the lawyers need to first figure out which courts have the right jurisdiction to hear their defendants case. At the same time they may have to spend an extensive amount of time gathering evidence to determine whether or not their client is guilty or innocence only to have that individual turn around and accept a plea bargain. To make matters worse, there may be certain instances where suspect is wrongly accused and later vindicated because a new piece of evidence surfaced that proved their innocence.

The moment after a culprit is arrested and charged with a crime, it is up the lawyers and prosecutors assigned to that particular case to determine whether the federal or state courts have the required rights or jurisdiction to hear that trial. According to Find Law.com “there are two kinds of courts in this country—state courts and federal courts…the differences between federal and state courts are defined mainly by jurisdiction.Jurisdiction refers to the kinds of cases a court is authorized to hear” .The website continues to break down the differences between the two courts by giving a more detailed definition of the jurisdictions that each one has.“State courts have broad jurisdiction, so the cases individual citizens are most likely to be involved in–such as robberies, traffic violations, broken contracts, and family disputes—are usually tried in state courts.