Steps In A Trial

Unit 3
 Civil and Criminal Cases
• The law deals with two kinds of cases. Civil cases involve conflicts
between people or institutions such as businesses. A civil case usually
begins when a person or organization determines that a problem
can’t be solved without the intervention of the courts. In civil cases,
one (or more) of these persons or organizations brings suit (i.e., files a
complaint in court that begins a lawsuit).
• Criminal cases involve enforcing public codes of behavior as
embodied in the laws, with the government prosecuting individuals or
institutions. In a criminal case, the government brings charges against
the person alleged to have committed the crime.
• What types of cases are civil? Divorce and related lawsuits (child
support, custody, and the like) account for a very large number of civil
cases. Cases involving contracts are also frequent. Automobile
collisions account for many tort (personal injury) cases, another
common kind of civil case. An auto collision gives rise to a civil case if
one driver sues the other, or if a passenger in one of the cars sues
either driver. An auto collision might also lead to a criminal case, if it
involves allegations of a crime such as drunken driving or leaving the
scene of an accident.
• In many parts of the world, civil and criminal legal actions are
combined into one case, but in our country they are not. If there are
serious civil and criminal aspects of an event, there will be two (or
more) distinct cases. An example would be a crime leading to a
criminal trial of the defendant, with the victims filing a separate civil
suit against the defendant to recover damages caused by the crime.
 Settling Cases
• Relatively few lawsuits ever go through the full range of procedures
and all the way to trial. Most civil cases are settled by mutual
agreement between the parties. A dispute can be settled even before
a suit is filed. Once a suit is filed, it can be settled before the trial
begins, during the trial, while the jury is deliberating, or even after a
verdict is rendered.
• A settlement doesn’t usually state that anyone was right or wrong in
the case, nor does it have to settle the whole case. Part of a dispute
can be settled, with the remaining issues left to be resolved by the
judge or jury.
• Criminal cases are not settled by the parties in quite the same way
civil cases are. However, not every case goes to trial. The government
may decide to dismiss a case, or be ordered to do so by a court. The
defendant may decide to plead guilty, perhaps as a result of
negotiations with the government that result in dismissing some of
the charges or recommending leniency in sentencing. Plea bargains
are a very important and efficient way to resolve criminal cases.
 Pre-trial Procedures in Civil Cases
• Suits begin with the filing of a complaint in the proper court. The
person filing the suit is often referred to as the plaintiff ; the person
or entity against whom the case is filed is often referred to as the
defendant . In some areas of law, such as domestic relations, the
person filing the complaint is the petitioner , and the person against
whom the case is filed is the respondent.
• The complaint states the plaintiff's version of the facts, the legal
theory under which the case is brought (negligence, for example), and
asks for certain damages or other relief. The plaintiff also files with
the court clerk a request that a summons (or notice) be issued to the
defendant. In many jurisdictions, the summons will be served by a
deputy sheriff or special process server. In other jurisdictions, it may
be served by mail. It notifies the defendant that a lawsuit has been
filed against him or her.
• After being notified, the defendant has a certain period of time to file
an answer admitting or denying the allegations made in the
complaint.
 Jurisdiction and Venue
• The plaintiff's lawyer must decide where to file the case. A court has
no authority to decide a case unless it has jurisdiction over the person
or property involved. To have jurisdiction, a court must have authority
over the subject matter of the case and
• the court must be able to exercise control over the defendant,

• or the property involved must be located in the area under the court's
control.

• The extent of the court's control over persons and property is set by
law.
• Certain actions are transitory . They can be brought wherever the
defendant may be found and served with a summons, and where the
jurisdiction has sufficient contact with one of the parties and the
incident that gave rise to the suit. An example would be a lawsuit
against a business--it would probably be sufficient to file suit in any
county in which the business has an operation, and not necessary to
file suit in the county where it its headquartered.
• Other actions - such as foreclosing on a piece of property - are local.
They can be brought only in the county where the subject of the suit
is located.
• Venue refers to the county or district within a state or the U.S. where
the lawsuit is to be tried. The venue of a lawsuit is set by statute, but
it can sometimes be changed to another county or district. For
example, if a case has received widespread pre-trial publicity, one of
the parties may make a motion (request to the judge) for change of
venue in an effort to secure jurors who haven’t already formed an
opinion about the case. Venue also may be changed for the
convenience of witnesses.