V. Trial

• Jurisdiction: North Carolina

V. TRIAL

With a few major exceptions, trial procedure and the rules of evidence in federal court are similar to those applicable in state superior court.¹⁴ Major differences between the federal and state trial procedure exist in the following areas: (1) jury selection and (2) rebuttal closing argument.

In practice, jury selection is severely limited in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The trial judge questions the jurors, and while attorneys may submit questions and make motions for jury questionnaires, the reality is that attorneys are rarely given the chance to question jurors. Thus, whereas jury selection in high-level state felony cases may take days or weeks, jury selection in federal court rarely lasts longer than a couple of hours.

In federal court, the prosecutor must present a closing argument first and then a relatively short rebuttal after the defense makes its closing. The commentary to Fed. R. Crim. P. 29.1, which governs closing arguments, states, "effective administration of justice is best served if the defendant knows the arguments actually made by the prosecution [on] behalf of conviction before the defendant is faced with the decision [of how] to reply," and "The Committee is of the view that the prosecutor, when he waives his initial closing argument, also waives his rebuttal." The government, however, is entitled to present...