Arraignment

[TODO]

Trial

Motions. You can present motions to suppress evidence, dismiss, and so on, at the beginning of the trial. It is, however, recommended that you wait until the State has presented their case, so that you don’t tip your hand as to what you may be planning and that double jeopardy applies (e.g., the State cannot move to amend the charges in response to a motion to dismiss after they’ve presented their case).

State’s case. The State gets to call witnesses. This will often only be an arresting officer, but may be a few additional people. You will get to question (“cross-examine”) each witness after the State finishes with them in turn, and then the State will get a chance to ask them additional questions (“redirect”) if they choose to. When questioning witnesses, stick to questions of fact that the witness in question is competent to answer, their understanding of he law, and so on. This isn’t the time to make legal arguments; that comes later.

Motions. Once the State has rested their case, they cannot present any new evidence, move to amend the charges, and so on. If you have a legal argument that you think might work, you can present it here as a motion to dismiss the case. [TODO: Elaborate on possible motions here. Lack of evidence? Examples of arguments for dismissal.]

Your case. At this point, you can call witnesses or testify yourself. Just as with the State’s witnesses, you should only question your witnesses as to facts, and if you testify, only speak to facts yourself. The State can cross-examine witnesses, and you, at this point.

Closing argument. At this point, you can make additional legal arguments here. This is also the time, if you’re on trial for an act of civil disobedience, to make moral arguments as to why you did what you did.

Verdict. The judge can issue a verdict at this point, or take the case “under advisement” if he needs to do research. If you’ve submitted motions to dismiss or similar in writing, the judge will most likely take the case under advisement.