Terms and Conditions

Tips for Court

• Dress Nicely.

• Be Respectful & Follow procedures of the court.

• Arrive Early & Prepare your documents beforehand.

• Answer questions directly.

• Speak with Clarity and Volume.

Mandatory Court Appearance

You are required by law to appear in court at the Judicial Building for a trial about the charges against you. Failure to appear in court at the above date and time will result in the immediate issuance of a bench warrant for your arrest. If you cannot make the court date, use the bookings page to reschedule.

Defendant's Rights

• Right to a public trial: The right to a public trial without unnecessary delay

• Right to an impartial jury: The right to an impartial jury from the state and district where the crime occurred

• Right to know charges: The right to know who the accusers are and the nature of the charges and evidence against the defendant

• Right to confront witnesses: The right to confront witnesses against the defendant

• Right to legal representation: The right to a lawyer

• Right to a fair trial

• Right to a speedy trial

• Protection against double jeopardy

• Protection against cruel and unusual punishment

• Right to remain silent

• Right to adequate representation

• Right to be present at all trial-related proceedings

• The Sixth Amendment guarantees the rights of criminal defendants, including the right to a public trial without unnecessary delay, the right to a lawyer, the right to an impartial jury, and the right to know who your accusers are and the nature of the charges and evidence against you.

• If these rights are compromised, the outcome of a criminal case may be significantly altered, and in many cases, it may be in the defendant's favor. Hiring a criminal attorney who has experience protecting defendants' rights and interests can be helpful. 

Jury Instructions

INSTRUCTION NO. I

Members of the Jury, the evidence in this case has been completed. In a moment, I will read to you jury instructions that contain the rules of law you must apply to reach your verdict.

You will have copies of what I read to take with you to the jury room. But first, I want to mention a few things you need to keep in mind when you are discussing this case in the jury room.

Until you have returned a verdict, you must not do any research about this case or this kind of case using any source, including dictionaries, reference materials, the internet or any other electronic means. You must not communicate in any way with anyone else about this case or this kind of case until you have returned a verdict in court. This includes your family and friends. If you have a cell phone or other electronic device, you must keep it turned off during jury deliberations.

It is my job to decide what rules of law apply to the case. While the attorneys may comment on some of these rules, you must follow the instructions I give you. Even if you disagree with or do not understand the reasons for some of the rules of law, you must follow them. No single instruction describes all the law which must be applied; the instructions must be considered together as a whole.

During the trial, you received all of the evidence that you may properly consider in deciding the case. Your decision must be made by applying the rules of law that I give you to the evidence presented at trial. Remember, you must not be influenced by sympathy, bias or prejudice in reaching your decision. You should not allow bias or any kind of prejudice based upon gender to influence your decision. If you decide that the prosecution has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty, it will be my job to decide what the punishment will be. In making your decision, you must not consider punishment at all. At times during the trial, attorneys made objections. Do not draw any conclusions from the objections or from my rulings on the objections. These only related to legal questions I had to decide and should not influence your thinking. If I told you not to consider a particular statement that was made during the trial, you

must not consider it in your deliberations.

Finally, you should consider all the evidence in light of your experience in life.

INSTRUCTION NO. II

(SAMPLE) The defendant is charged with committing the crimes of Driving Under The Influence, Public Endangerment, and Possession of an Illegal Controlled Substance in El Paso County, San Andreas, on May 31st, 2024. The defendant has pled not guilty.

INSTRUCTION NO. III

The charges against the defendant are not evidence. The charges against the defendant are just accusations. The fact that the defendant has been accused is not evidence that the defendant committed any crime.

INSTRUCTION NO. IV

Every person charged with a crime is presumed innocent. This presumption of innocence remains with the defendant throughout the trial and should be given effect by you unless, after considering all of the evidence, you are then convinced that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The burden of proof is upon the prosecution to prove to the satisfaction of the jury beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of all of the elements necessary to constitute the crime charged.

Reasonable doubt means a doubt based upon reason and common sense which arises from a fair and rational consideration of all of the evidence, or the lack of evidence, in the case. It is a doubt which is not a vague, speculative or imaginary doubt, but such a doubt as would cause reasonable people to hesitate to act in matters of importance to themselves.

If You find from the evidence that each and every element of crime has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant guilty of that crime. If You find from the evidence that the prosecution has failed to prove any one or more of the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant not guilty of that crime.

INSTRUCTION NO. V

The number of witnesses testifying for or against a certain fact does not, by itself, prove or disprove that fact.

INSTRUCTION NO. VI

You are the sole judges of the credibility of each witness and the weight to be given to the witness’s testimony. You should carefully consider all of the testimony given and the circumstances under which each witness has testified.

For each witness, consider that person’s knowledge, motive, state of mind, demeanor, and manner while testifying. Consider the witness’s ability to observe, the strength of that person’s memory, and how that person obtained his or her knowledge. Consider any relationship the witness may have to either side of the case, and how each witness might be affected by the verdict. Consider how the testimony of the witness is supported or contradicted by other evidence in the case. You should consider all facts and circumstances shown by the evidence when you evaluate each witness’s testimony. You may believe all of the testimony of the witness, part of it, or none of it.

INSTRUCTION NO. VII

A witness qualified as an expert by education, training or experience may state

opinions. You are not bound by the testimony of witnesses who testified as experts; the

credibility of an expert's testimony is to be considered as that of any other witness. You

may believe all of an expert witness's testimony, part of it, or none of it. The weight you give the testimony is entirely your decision.

INSTRUCTION NO. VIII

Every defendant has a constitutional right not to testify. The decision not to testify cannot be used as an inference of guilt and cannot prejudice the defendant. It is not evidence, does not prove anything, and must not be considered for any purpose.

INSTRUCTION NO. IX

The Court has taken judicial notice of a certain fact. You may or may not accept that fact as true. It is entirely your decision to determine what weight, if any, shall be given to the evidence.

INSTRUCTION NO. X

A fact may be proven by either direct or circumstantial evidence. Under the law, both are acceptable ways to prove something. Neither is necessarily more reliable than the other.

Direct evidence is based on first-hand observation of the fact in question. For example, a witness’s testimony that she looked out a window and saw snow falling might be offered as direct evidence that it had snowed.

Circumstantial evidence is indirect. It is based on observations of related facts that may lead you to reach a conclusion about the fact in question. For example, awitness’s testimony that she looked out a window and saw snow covering the ground might be offered as circumstantial evidence that it had snowed.

INSTRUCTION NO. XI

Members of the jury, you may discuss this case only when you are all present and you may only deliberate in the jury room. No juror should attempt to discuss this case with other jurors or anyone else at any other time except when all jurors are in the jury room.

INSTRUCTION NO. XII

Once you begin your deliberations, if you have a question, your foreperson should write it on a piece of paper, sign it and give it to the bailiff, who will bring it to me.

The Court will then determine the appropriate way to answer the question. However, there may be some questions that, under the law, the Court is not permitted to answer. Please do not speculate about what the answer to your question might have been or why The Court is not able to answer a particular question.

Finally, please be sure to keep the original question and response. Do not destroy them as they are part of the official record in this case, and must be returned to me when you return the instructions and verdict forms at the end of the case.

INSTRUCTION NO. XIII

During this trial you were permitted to submit written questions to witnesses. If a particular question was not asked, do not guess why the question was not asked or what the answer might have been. My decision not to ask a question submitted by a juror is not a reflection on the person asking it, and you should not attach any significance to the failure to ask a question. By making legal rulings on the admissibility of questions, I did not intend to suggest or express any opinion about the question. My decision whether or not to allow a question is based on the applicable rules of evidence and other rules of law, and not on the facts of this particular case. It is my responsibility to assure that all parties receive a fair trial according to the law and the rules of evidence.

The fact that certain questions were not asked must not affect your consideration of the evidence in any way. Do not give greater weight to questions, or answers to questions, that are submitted by yourself or your fellow jurors. In making your decision, you must consider all of the evidence that has been presented.

INSTRUCTION NO. XIV

In this case a separate offense is charged against the defendant in each count of the information. Each count charges a separate and distinct offense and the evidence and the law applicable to each count should be considered separately, uninfluenced by your decision as to any other count. The fact that you may find the defendant guilty or not guilty of one of the offenses charged, should not control your verdict as to any other offense charged against the defendant.

The defendant may be found guilty or not guilty of any one or all of the offenses charged.

INSTRUCTION NO. XV

A crime is committed when the defendant has committed a voluntary act prohibited by law, together with a culpable state of mind.

“Voluntary act” means an act performed consciously as a result of effort or Determination. Proof of the voluntary act alone is insufficient to prove that the defendant has the required state of mind.

The culpable state of mind is as much an element of the crime as the act itself and must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, either by direct or circumstantial evidence. In this case, the applicable states of mind are explained below: The term “after deliberation” means not only intentionally, but also that the decision to commit the act has been made after the exercise of reflection and judgment concerning the act.

An act committed after deliberation is never one which has been committed in a hasty or impulsive manner. A person acts “intentionally” or “with intent” when the defendant’s conscious objective is to cause the specific result proscribed by the statute defining the offense. It is immaterial whether or not the result actually occurred.

A person acts “knowingly” or “willfully” with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense when the defendant is aware that their conduct is of such nature or that such a circumstance exists. A person acts “knowingly” or “willfully”, with respect to a result of other conduct, when the defendant is aware that her conduct is practically certain to cause the result.

Probation / Parole Eligibility Hearing

After 2 weeks of your sentence, you may request a hearing to be granted probation or parole through the bookings page. The hearing will last about 30 minutes and the defendant's attorney must be present along with the defendant. A defendant is granted two hearings per conviction. 

Appeals

Once convicted, you are automatically granted ONE appeal. The appeal must be made by email. In the email you should include the reason why your case needs to be heard again. See the superior court page for more information.