The Trial of Offenders
| Published date | 01 January 1962 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271626233900110 |
| Author | Robert E. Knowlton |
| Date | 01 January 1962 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
125
The
Trial
of
Offenders
By
ROBERT
E.
KNOWLTON
Robert
E.
Knowlton,
LL.M.,
Newark,
New
Jersey,
is
Professor
of
Law
and
Director
of
Graduate
Study
at
the
Rutgers
University
Law
School.
During
1958-1960,
he
served
as
adviser
to
the
Burma
Law
Institute.
He
is
coeditor
with
Edwin
R.
Keedy
of
Cases
and
Statutes
on
the
Administration
of
Criminal
Law
(1955),
coauthor
with
Samuel
Dash
and
Richard
Schwartz
of
The
Eavesdroppers
(1959),
and
has
contributed
several
articles
to
legal
journals.
He
has
practiced
law
in
Iowa
and
is
a
member
of
the
Bar
of
the
Su-
preme
Court
of
Iowa
and
of
the
Supreme
Court
of
the
United
States.
ABSTRACT:
American
criminal
trials
derive
from
the
Eng-
lish
pattern
as
modified
through
the
frontier
experience
of
the
United
States.
The
adversary
concept
and
the
aloof
judiciary
in
criminal
procedure
reflect
a
concern
for
the
proper
relation-
ship
of
government
and
individual.
Generally,
criminal
trials
go
through
the
following
steps:
arraignment
and
plea;
selec-
tion
of
the
jury;
prosecutor’s
and
accused’s
opening
state-
ments;
presentation
of
the
state’s
and
the accused’s
evidence;
prosecutor’s
and
accused’s
arguments
to
the
jury;
prosecutor’s
rebuttal;
judge’s
instructions
on
the
law;
rendition
of
jury
verdict;
sentencing
by
the
judge.
Some
lesser
offenses
are
tried
before
a
judge
sitting
without
a
jury.
Depending
upon
defense’s
evaluation
of
tactical
advantage,
jury
trial
may
be
waived
in
other
cases.
Also,
the
opening
statement
and
the
presentation
of
evidence
by
the
accused
may
be
waived,
and
the
defendant
may or
may
not
testify
in
his
own
behalf.
After
the
verdict,
the
defense
may
move
for
a
judgment
notwith-
standing
the
verdict,
for
a
new
trial,
or
to arrest
judgment.
After
sentencing,
the
case
may
be
appealed
to
a
higher
court,
or
denial
of
due
process
may
be
charged
in
order
to
litigate
further.
Particularly
in
close
cases,
great
responsibility
de-
volves
upon
counsel.
Also,
the
defense
is
handicapped
in
in-
vestigating
facts.
But,
the
government
cannot
appeal
a
case
which
it
has
lost.—Ed.
126
THE
criminal
trial,
from
arraignment
through
some
of
the
procedures
available
to
the
accused
if
she
is
con-
victed,
is
the
subject
of
this
article.
There
will
be
some
discussion
of
the
more
obvious
problems.
The
organiza-
tion
of
the
material
is
primarily
chrono-
logical,
although
some
variation
is
neces-
sary.
The
general
outline
of
a
trial,
al-
though
the
judge
may
allow
variations
in
some
instances,
is
as
follows:
(1)
Arraignment
and
plea;
( 2 )
Selection
of
the
jury;
(3)
Prosecutor’s
opening
statement;
(4)
Accused’s
opening
statement;
(5)
Presentation
of
the
state’s
evi-
dence ;
(6)
Presentation
of
the
accused’s
evidence;
(7)
Prosecutor’s
argument
to
the
jury;
{8)
Accused’s
argument
to
the
jury;
(9)
Prosecutor’s
rebuttal;
(10)
Judge’s
instructions
upon
the
law;
{ 11 )
Rendition
of
the
jury
verdict;
( 12 )
Imposition
of
sentence
by
the
judge
if
the
verdict
is
&dquo;guilty.&dquo;
Not
all
of
the
steps
need
be
included
in
a
given
trial.
The
defendant
may
waive
jury
trial
or
his
opening
state-
ment
or
his
right
to
introduce
evidence
or
to
argue
to
the
jury.
On
the other
hand,
certain
motions
may
be
made
during
the
trial
which
do
not appear
in
the
outline,
but
these
will
be
discussed
later.
ARRAIGNMENT
AND
PLEA
In
the
arraignment,
the
accused
is
brought
before
the
court,
informed
of
the
charge
against
him,
and
asked
how
he
pleads.
If
he
does
not
have
a
law-
yer,
the
court
must
inform
him
of
his
right
to
one.
Should
he
be
unable
to
obtain
such
assistance,
the
court
will
appoint
a
lawyer
to
advise
him.
Under
such
circumstances,
sufficient
time
must
be
allowed
for
the
counsel
to
acquaint
himself
with
the
case.
Before
waiver
of
counsel
is
effective,
the
court
must
in-
form
the
accused
of
the
charge
in
de-
tail,
the
consequences
of
the
various
pleas,
and
other
relevant
matters.
Usually,
if
not
always,
the
accused
and
his
lawyer,
if
he
has
one,
know
the
charge
long
before
arraignment
and
will,
therefore,
waive
the
reading
of
the
in-
dictment
in
toto.
A
number
of
courses
of
action
are
possible
in
response
to
the
charge.
The
accused
may
enter
a
plea
of
not
guilty,
a
plea
of
guilty,
or
of
nolo
contendere,
or
he
may
stand
mute.
A
plea
of
not
guilty
places
every
fact
in
issue
so
that
the
burden
is
upon
the
state
to
prove
every
element
of
the
of-
fense
beyond
a
reasonable
doubt.
If
the
defendant
stands
mute,
the
court
will
enter
a
plea
of
not
guilty,
and
a
trial
will
follow
which
is,
in
all
respects,
the
same
as
if
the
accused
had,
in
fact,
entered
such
a
plea
himself.
The
plea
of
guilty
obviates
the
neces-
sity
of
a
trial,
although
there
will,
in
most
cases,
be
a
hearing
to
elicit
facts
needed
for
sentencing.
The
plea
of
nolo
contendere
is,
for
the
purposes
of
the
particular
prosecution,
an
admission
of
guilt
and
will
support
the
imposition
of
punishment
without
a
trial.
It
dif-
fers
from
a
plea
of
guilty
only
insofar
as
it
does
not
amount
to
an
admission
for
purposes
of
other
suits
arising
out
of
the
same
occurrence.
A
plea
may
be
withdrawn
on
motion
prior
to
sentencing
if
it
appears
to
the
court
that
it
was
not
knowingly
made
or
was
not
representative
of
the
ac-
cused’s
true
attitude.
It
is
difficult
to
withdraw
a
plea
after
sentence
has
been
imposed
because
of
the
court’s
suspicion
that
the
attempt
is
based
upon
discon-
tent
with
the
sentence
rather
than
a
genuine
misunderstanding
when
the
plea
was
entered.
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