Arraignment by a judge. Before the trial, the defendant appears in court and enters a plea. Usually, in plea bargaining, the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a charge reduction or sentence reduction. Trial/adjudication of guilt by a judge or jury, with a prosecutor and a defense attorney participating.

In federal criminal trials, the jury must reach a unanimous decision in order to convict the defendant. After they reach an agreement on a verdict, the jury informs the judge, the lawyers, and the defendant in open court. If the defendant is found not guilty, they are usually free to go home.

The process of uncovering evidence in a case is referred to as. Discovery.

n. in criminal law, a defendant’s plea in court that he/she will not contest the charge of a particular crime, also called nolo contendere.

If the defendant refuses to enter a plea—or to even speak—then the judge will typically enter a not guilty plea on his or her behalf. Someone who persistently refuses to plead may very well end up in trial, because a plea bargain is obviously out of the question.

In general, you can be forced by the court to testify. When this is ordered, you will be sent a subpoena via hand delivery, direct communication, or email. The subpoena will state in detail what type of testimony is needed from you.

At the Plea and Case Management Hearing, you will formally enter your plea (guilty or not guilty) and again your case will either be adjourned for sentence or trial. As with the Magistrates’ Court, if you fail to attend at any of your hearings, the Court will issue a warrant for your arrest.

If a criminal defendant decides to plead guilty, he or she may not have as much time to wait for sentencing. Therefore, pleading guilty could wind up causing a criminal defendant to lose a potential plea bargain that would offer better terms than a simple guilty plea.

An Alford plea (also called a Kennedy plea in West Virginia, an Alford guilty plea and the Alford doctrine), in United States law, is a guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence.

A plea deal may be negotiated on the facts of the case. Also, a plea deal may be negotiated based on charges. In exchange for pleading guilty to a lesser charge, a defendant may have their more serious charges dropped to avoid more dire legal consequences. Finally, a plea deal may be negotiated based on sentencing.

They may try to convince you it is in your best interest to accept a deal on their terms or risk being charged with a more serious offense and face harsher penalties. But plea bargains are sometimes offered because evidence against you is flimsy and the prosecutor believes they might lose at trial.

For a defendant in a criminal case, plea bargaining provides the opportunity for a more lenient sentence than if convicted at trial, and to have fewer (or less serious) offenses listed on a criminal record. There’s also the natural tendency to want to trade risk for certainty.

While plea procedure varies from judge to judge and jurisdiction to jurisdiction, judges must always decide whether to accept the plea terms before the defendant actually enters the plea.

Many innocent defendants plead guilty in part due to fear of what they call ‘the trial penalty’ — that the punishment will be greater after trial. This fear of trial saves the prosecution from having their evidence tested for both accuracy and sufficiency.

Court action only occurs once an offender has been charged or summoned with an offence to appear in court. The decision whether to take the case to court or not, is dependent on the below factors; Sufficient evidence – Offender Admits the Serious Offence.