Common legal proceedings
arraignment: Arraignment, the reading of the complaint or indictment and the reading of a charge of a crime, the entry of a plea, takes place generally during the first appearance in court of a person accused of the crime. It takes place in the court having jurisdiction, usually the one in the district where the offense was committed and will be followed by further court action generally on another date.
pleas: When the charge is read, the defendant must enter a plea. He may answer in one of three ways: not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere. If no answer is given, a not guilty plea is entered by the court.
A not guilty plea is entered for the purpose of claiming a trial and putting the commonwealth to the burden of proving the charges.
A guilty plea acknowledges that the commonwealth can probably prove its case and waives the right to trial.
Nolo contendere (literally, I will not contest) has much the same affect as the guilty plea and cannot be introduced in subsequent civil proceedings. Although it actually admits guilt, it is considered a more desirable plea to have on a record than the guilty plea.
show cause hearing: Within four days of receiving notice of violation (commonly called a "citation") a person may request a show cause hearing in writing. It should be addressed to the clerk of court noted on the face of the citation. The clerk will set up a hearing at which the arresting officer and the person to be accused will tell the Clerk why a complaint should or should not be issued. The hearings are informal. The clerk is not a lawyer but will simply judge from his experience whether a complaint is justified. Minor criminal matters are often disposed of at this stage without the necessity of more formal proceedings.
probable cause hearing: A probable cause hearing is conducted in a district court by a judge sitting without a jury to determine whether the prosecution has enough evidence to charge a person with a crime which is not within its jurisdiction so that he may be "bound over" to a higher court. A probable cause hearing fills somewhat the same function of a grand jury in that it is a determination that is most commonly based on prosecution evidence alone to decide whether a person should be charged, although the defense may offer evidence if it chooses.
trial -- basic structure: There are two types of trials - civil and criminal - both of which may be either jury or non-jury. In almost all civil trials the amount of proof needed is the preponderance of the evidence; in criminal trials it is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. All trials are adversary proceedings, i.e., there are two sides, each presenting valid legal propositions. In civil trials the sides are presented by the plaintiff and the defendant. In criminal trials the sides are represented by the state and the defendant, and the state must prove its case. If it doesn't prove every element of the charge by admissible evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant will be acquitted. The defendant has no burden of proof. In civil cases, the plaintiff has the burden of proving its case by a preponderance of the evidence.
incidents of trial, selecting the jury: A panel is provided from which jurors will be selected. Defense and prosecution each have the right to reject a certain number of jurors. The judge may also dismiss a juror if he feels the potential juror cannot decide the case impartially. These two types of challenges are called challenges for cause and peremptory challenges. The judge exercises the challenges for cause based on his questioning of the juror. Each attorney exercises peremptory challenges without having to give any reason. In capital cases, there are 12 peremptory challenges for both defense and prosecution. For other criminals offenses, four. In a civil case, each party is entitled to four peremptory challenges. In all trials, juries are judges of the facts; the judge is a judge of the law. He will instruct the jury what law must be applied in the specific facts of the case, but he can't tell them what evidence to believe or how much weight to give to certain facts.
opening statements: Each side may state what it expects to prove before it starts offering evidence. What is said here is not evidence. The prosecutor (or plaintiff in a civil trial) speaks first. The other side may speak directly after the other's opening statement, or it may wait until the prosecution (or plaintiff) has rested, i.e., finished putting in its evidence.
motions and motion sessions: Motions are requests for some type of judicial action and normally must be presented in writing. Common motions include MOTION TO SUPPRESS, MOTION FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT, MOTION TO DISMISS. The judge will listen to what the person offering the motion has to say, and then what the opposing counsel says. He then either denies or allows the motion.
evidence: Evidence may be either testamentary or documentary. Testamentary evidence is presented through the spoken word of witnesses. Documentary evidence includes all other kinds, such as reports, written statements, maps, business records, etc.
A witness may only testify as to what he knows and what is relevant to the cause. Although well-established legal rules govern the admissibility of evidence, the trial judge is also required to exercise sound judicial discretion in deciding many questions of admissibility.
exhibits: Each side has the right to offer articles which tend to support or prove its case. There is no limit to the number of exhibits which may be offered as long as they are relevant, i.e., bear directly on the issues.
witnesses: Witnesses are persons who have knowledge of matters affecting the case. Plaintiffs and defendants may be their own witnesses. In a civil case, the plaintiff may call the defendant as a witness, and vice versa. In a criminal case, the defendant cannot be required to testify. Anyone may be a witness regardless of age or mental ability. If there is a question of competency to testify, the judge will decide. Expert witnesses are specialists in some field of endeavor, whose expertise may help determine some of the contested issues. They include doctors, engineers, architects, bricklayers, priests, statisticians and any person who has knowledge in a particular field which is beyond the average person's knowledge.
closing arguments and charge: After all the evidence for both sides is closed, each attorney may sum up his case as it has been presented during the trial. Within limits, he may comment on anything that is "in the record" (i.e., that has been presented during the trial) but may not introduce any new material. Generally he will sum up all the facts which support his position and minimize or explain away any inconsistencies. Closing arguments are not considered evidence.
When the attorneys have finished, the judge will "charge" the jury. He will tell them what law applies to the case and he will explain in detail every element that had to be proved in order to the prosecution or plaintiff to win his case.
creating a record: Some courts have facilities for recording or transcribing the testimony. They are compulsory in the Massachusetts chief trial court, the superior court. They may be requested in probate and district courts. They are used to preserve "the record," i.e., exactly what took place during the trial or hearing. The record forms the basis for any appeals and enables the appellate court to determine whether any errors of law have been committed by the trial court.
dispositions: A case may be disposed of in a variety of ways. In lower courts, criminal dispositions include:
- acquittal...the defendant is found not guilty.
- conviction...the defendant is found guilty.
- continuance without a finding...the court makes no finding and will continue the case for a specified time usually with the intention of dismissing the charges providing no new charges are brought in the interim.
- a finding of delinquency...in juvenile court a finding of delinquency is tantamount to a finding of criminal guilt were the juvenile an adult.
- in civil trials there can be a finding for the defendant, or a finding for the plaintiff, or a finding for neither party. In civil cases where some kind of relief other than money damages is being sought, there may be a statement of rights of the parties as determined by the court.
taking an appeal: Appeals may be taken from decisions of the lower courts, probate courts, land court and superior court. An appeal is a review of the record of the case after it has been decided in the lower court to determine whether legal error has been made, i.e. whether the law has been correctly interpreted and applied to the facts in the case. Legal arguments are reduced to writing (briefs) and are sent to the appellate court along with any needed parts of the record of the lower court proceedings. The appellate court is not a trial court; there are no witnesses or juries present at appellate court hearings. Instead, lawyers for each side make a short presentation (oral argument) to the appellate court concerning the claims of legal errors made by the lower court.