Many writers struggle when it comes to writing about trials and mistrials as many of these writers are basing their understanding on what they have seen in the media. The media does not always present a clear and/or truthful picture of trials, mistrials, and juries. This lack often leads to writers doing their own research or just winging the legal scenes in their writing which can lead to confusion for readers. In order to be able to better write trial scenes and court cases, a writer needs to have a good understanding of trials, different types of trials, mistrials, and juries. A writer can construct a more realistic plot, setting, and character interactions with an understanding of these elements. Some writers fail to keep their audience interested when they make a mistake in writing a trial scene or in explaining how one or more of their characters are prosecuted, defended, judged, and/or how the characters perform in court roles.

Trials

Trials are a formal examination of evidence that takes place before a judge and in most cases before a jury, with the purpose of deciding the guilt of the defendant in a case of criminal, civil, juvenile, or traffic proceedings. These types of cases typically involve a judge, jury, defendant, and prosecutor; however depending on the type of trial, more or fewer parties may be involved, as not all trials require a jury. The proceedings of court cases can differ based on the type of case, but the basic procedure of a court case that has a jury is:

 1. The jury selection occurs during which the defense, prosecution, and judge may excuse jurors from the jury for reasons of bias, personal ideological predispositions, or life experiences of the jurors. This is typically the stage where the defense attempts to get rid of jurors who would be strongly against their client and the prosecution attempts to get jurors that would be sympathetic towards the defense removed.   

2. The defense and prosecution give their opening statements to the jury in an attempt to sway the jury to their side.

3. The defense and prosecution provide witness testimony, expert testimony, and in some cases statements from the defendant and/or the victim(s). Then the defense and prosecution each have a chance to cross-examine the witnesses and object to the other side’s questions or insinuations of the witnesses.

4. The defense and prosecution give their closing arguments to the jury and the court. This is the last chance that the defense and prosecution have to convince the jury to find the defendant either guilty or innocent. These statements can be factual, persuasive, and/or emotional pleas for the jury to do what is right.

5. The jury is given instruction by the judge on any relevant legal standards that the jury needs to know to make a decision of either guilty or not guilty

6. The jury leaves the courtroom and deliberates on the guilt or innocence of the defendant in an attempt to reach a consensus.

7. The jury reaches a verdict and the judge has the verdict read aloud to the court. If the jury failed to reach a verdict then a mistrial occurs.