A Murder Trial (Time Gaps, Details For a Defense Attorney, ect.)

I don't have a lot of experience, but I sat on a jury for a murder trial, and it lasted two weeks. Jury deliberation was about 9 hours (don't know how that went, I was an alternate, so I did not sit in on the deliberations.)

The case in question involved a home robbery that was interrupted by a pizza delivery guy (friend of the robbery victims). the pizza guy was armed, and got shot by the robbers.

Heather
Forums Moderator

Honestly, serial killer trials can take months, days, years, weeks. It really depends on the amount of evidence the Prosecutor has, whether he's depending on a high amount of trace evidence (or if there's "harder" evidence, such as an escaped vic or a critical mistake), the size of the town in question (smaller town=smaller jury pool=prosecutor may have to find a way to go elsewhere for the trial), media involvement and yes, the temperment of the killer in question (anti-social vs. nonsocial, depressive vs. non-depressive, psychotic vs. non-psychotic (basically this is the difference between hallucinatory and non, as opposed to just plain "nuts") because that would determine whether or not the killer would take any plea bargains as well as the course of action the prosecutor would take (he may push for hospitalization as opposed to jail time, for example, if he truly believes the killer is mentally incapable of understanding his crimes).

Well, thanks guys- I appreciate it. I'd still like some more information, so I'm shamelessly bumping this dirty little thing ;)

NaNoWriMo 2007- "Abstract Hearts" 40,696 Words (Unfinished)

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"A mother who radiates self-love and self-acceptance vaccinates her daughter against low self-esteem. " -- Naomi Wolf

Bumpity-bump :)

NaNoWriMo 2007- "Abstract Hearts" 40,696 Words (Unfinished)

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"A mother who radiates self-love and self-acceptance vaccinates her daughter against low self-esteem. " -- Naomi Wolf

Bump, bump, bump...

NaNoWriMo 2007- "Abstract Hearts" 40,696 Words (Unfinished)

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"A mother who radiates self-love and self-acceptance vaccinates her daughter against low self-esteem. " -- Naomi Wolf

From arrest to the jury making a decision, a year is about the longest it would take.

For a serial killer, which gets lots of media attention, the timeline would be accelerated, 6 months at the outside arrest to jury decision.

This is a general expectation for the US.

The process goes arrest, which requires a warrant (which in turn requires a judge) if the person is reasonably suspected by the police. The person is then detained while it is determined if charges will be pressed (in the case of the reasonable suspicion.) During this time they have the option of consulting with their lawyer, or a state-appointed defense attorney. If charges are pressed there is then an arraignment where it made official that the person is being charged with the crime, and a judge determines how it will be ensured the person shows up for their trial. Most severe is remanded (held without a chance at bond, because the person is determined to be an extreme flight risk, or still a danger to the community). The least severe is personal recognizance, where the court trusts you show up for your trial without bond. (think of it like a security deposit. You give them a large amount of money, with the expectation that you get it back if you show up to your trial without making the police go get it.) Intermediary levels include bails(cash or bond, I'm not too familiar with how they work), and possibly house arrest.

Next is the trial, but that's a long ways off. During the time between the arraignment and the trial witness lists are developed and submitted, the prosecution will submit their evidence, or the defense will challenge the evidence and while all of this goes on the police are still out doing grunt work gathering evidence and the lawyers on both sides will be interviewing witnesses. Witnesses do not have to be eye-witnesses. In the case of no eye-witness, character witnesses will be presented to show the person's personality through their day to day dealings with other people, or to build motive. Expert witnesses will be used to verify the results of evidence that was gathered. In the case murders, you can expect a forensic pathologist to testify as to the injuries and timing thereof, and in the case of a serial killer it is likely that a forensic anthropologist will be brought in testify to injuries on skeletonized bodies, as well as at least one psychologist (possibly more, depending on how the defense builds their case) there to testify towards whether or not the person actually was mentally disturbed (most serial killers are mentally disturbed in some way and will follow a ritual for their killing). There is a crap ton of paperwork that can happen in these cases. It is a slow, grinding process very different from what you see on lawyer shows, but then they're condensing months of work into an hour long TV segment (two hours if it's a season finale/opener).

A couple key terms you should know:

sociopaths and psychopaths are very much different.

Forensic pathologist: medical expert who applies forensic principles to injuries on a fleshed body.
Forensic anthropologist: expert in physical anthropology who applies forensic principles to skeletonized or mostly skeletonized bodies.
Medical Examiner: an expert who fills the role of both a forensic pathologist and a coroner. They examined bodies to determine cause of death and write up the death certificate. Almost always an appointed position.
Coroner: person who examines bodies to determine cause of death and write a death certificate. Either appointed or elected, no medical expertise needed. (Most have a minimum requirement of highschool graduation and being 18 years of age.)
Forensic artist: physical anthropology expert who uses a variety of techniques to identify a person from descriptions, photos or remains. It is extremely rare to find a person employed as a forensic artist (I think there are only 6 or 7 in the country). Most forensic artists have other duties that they fulfill while not working F. Art cases and can be either police, or civilian support staff.
2-D facial reconstruction: a method for creating a sketch of the face from an x-ray of the skull. Used in the US in most cases because it is considered profane to show an image of a dead body on the evening news. Other countries will flash up ME photographs. Or take their own at the scene.
3-D facial reconstruction: a method for creating a clay bust of a person from a de-fleshed skull. The media LOVES to do stories on this method. Seriously. A 2-D reconstruction will get you a 15 second slot on the evening news, a 3-D facial reconstruction will get you full pages in the newspaper, interviews and specials by the local and national media.
Age progression: method for creating a picture of what a person would look after a period of time from a provided photograph.

Thanks, guys, I appreciate it!

Also, if anybody has any more info, I'm willing ot hear it...

NaNoWriMo 2007- "Abstract Hearts" 40,696 Words (Unfinished)

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"A mother who radiates self-love and self-acceptance vaccinates her daughter against low self-esteem. " -- Naomi Wolf