criminal trial
Felony court case
A criminal trial is a formal legal proceeding in which a court determines whether a person accused of a crime is guilty.
The prosecution, representing the state, must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, while the defendant may present a defense.
Criminal trials may be decided by a jury or by a judge alone: The criminal trial lasted three weeks before the jury reached a verdict.
- juryLegal decision-making body
- jury selectionChoosing trial decision-makers
- judgeOne who decides
- jury deliberationJurors' private decision-making process
- defendantParty facing charges
due process · prosecutor · burden of proof · beyond a reasonable doubt · hung jury · forensic analysis · voir dire · reasonable doubt · circumstantial evidence · evidence tampering · verdict · defense attorney · mistrial · witness tampering · closing argument · cross-examination · witness · sworn testimony
- criminal trialarraignment, defense attorney, courtroom, prosecutor, charges
- trialsretrial, mistrial, dry run, practice test, pilot test
- court proceedingsarraignment, verdict, hearing, testimony, plea
- court recordscourt documents, court transcripts, court records, court cases, court record
- legal casescivil case, court cases, landmark cases, federal case, civil cases
- legal proceedingsverdict, lawsuit, testimony, plea, appeal
criminal trialcivil trial
Noncriminal court proceeding
civil lawsuit · civil litigation · civil case · civil action · civil suit
criminal trialplea bargain
Negotiated criminal case resolution
settlement · out-of-court settlement · mediation · diversion program
criminal trialacquittal
Formal clearing of charges
conviction · arrest · indictment · sentencing · arraignment