You have a constitutional right to a trial by jury (except for certain misdemeanors). The law also says that you must be tried no earlier than 30 days and no later than 70 days after your first appearance. This time frame can be extended upon request but requires specific findings by the judge. Therefore, in most cases you can expect your trial to take place approximately two months after your first appearance. About a week before your trial, you will have a pretrial conference. The court will inquire about the number of witnesses, expected length of case presentation, and will resolve any outstanding pretrial motions.
At trial, a jury of twelve people will hear your case and decide whether you are guilty. You, your attorney, the prosecutor, and the judge will all participate in deciding who should be on the jury. If you and your lawyer determine it might be better for you to have a judge decide your case, you may waive the jury. However, the prosecutor must also agree to do so. After the jury has been selected, each side will have the opportunity to make an opening statement. Your attorney may choose to wait to give their opening statement until after the government has presented its case. The opening statement generally introduces the jury to what the case is about, what the anticipated evidence will be, and what the jury will be asked to decide. The government will then put on their case. They will call witnesses and show evidence to the jury. Your attorney will get to cross-examine or question the witnesses about their testimony. Once the government is done presenting their case, your attorney will have the chance to present any witnesses and evidence that will help your case. Remember, it is the prosecutor’s job at trial to prove guilt. It is not your job to prove you are innocent and the defense does not have to present any evidence at all. If it does, the government will be able to cross-examine defense witnesses and then when the defense is done, put on additional evidence.
After both sides finish presenting their evidence, each side will get to make a final statement to the jury. These are called closing arguments. Often, they summarize the evidence, tell the jury what they think it means, and how it should decide the case. Like during the presentation of evidence, the prosecutor goes first, the defense next, and then the prosecutor may go again. After, the judge will instruct the jury on the law and what questions it is to answer. The jury leaves the courtroom to discuss the case and try to reach its decision, or verdict. To find you guilty, all jurors must agree.