The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1959-01-06

seltei ali Of his evidence ne an
nounces to the court that he
rests" The defendant then pro-
ceeds to all his witnesses. who are
examined first By the defendant
counsel and eross-examined by i
counsel for the plaintiff. After de-
PENDANTS counsel has called all his
witnesses he announces to the court
that he rests his case The plain
tit then has the right to offer re-
bilttal testimony.
instructions Of The Court
Al the conclusion Of the testimony
the judge and counsel retire TO the
Judges chambers to consider the
instructions TO the jury relating TO
the law Of the case. Written in
7structions are presented by coun-
sci for consideration by the Judge.
who decides what instructions on
the law shall be given to the jury.
When the instruction have been de-
cided on by the Judge, he and coum-
sci return to the courtroom and the
Judge reads his Instructions to the
jury. 1t is the duty of the jury to
accept and follow the law laid
down by the judge even though
they may have different cOncep-
ton OF what the law is or ought
to be
Argument of Counsel
Counsel then argue the case to
the jury. Counsel for the plaintiff
opens the argument, followed by
counsel for the defendant and then
plaintiffs counsel speaks again
and closes the case. The jury must
disregard any statement of fact
made by counsel unless it is sup
ported by the evidence in the case.
After deciding what the facts are.
the jury must draw from them such
differences and conclusions as they
believe to be supported by sound
reasoning.
In the Jury Room
When the Jurors retire to con-
slider of their verdict. the first thing
they do is to elect a foreman who
presides over their deliberations
in the case they are then consider
ing and whose duty it is to write
the jury's verdict and sign his
name to it as foreman. He partici-
pates in the deliberations and votes
along with all other jurors on the
issues presented for the jury to de-
eide.
The written instructions of h e.
Judge are carried To the jury room
for guidance in their deliberations
and If there is anything in them
they do not understand they have
the right and it is their duty TO
ask the Judge to tell them what
the instructions mean.
Since the jury must be unani-
NOUS in order TO reach a verdict It
is obvious that the jurors are fire.
qllently called upon to adjust their
views to the views of their fellows
In this process. while no juror
should yield conscientious opinion
deliberately formed after full and
fair consideration. it is the duty
of each juror to discuss the case in
a spirit Of fairness and candor, CIV
ing with an open mind due con-
sideration TO the views Of the other
jurors. to the end that verdict
may be reached provided it can
be done without sacrifice Of any
juror S conscientious convictions.
The Trial Of Criminal Case
In a criminal case the Common
wealth is the plaintiff and the per-
son accused of committing an Of
Tense against the law is the defend
ant Offenses are either felonieS or
misdemeanorS. Such. OffenSeS as
/ are punishable with death or con-
finement in the penitentiary are
felonies: all other offenses are mis-
demcanors. No person can be put
on trial for a felony until after a
presentment has been made or an
indictment found by a grand jury
unless the person Shall have waived
such indictment or preSentment, in
which event he may be tried on
a warrant or information. An in
dictment or presentfnent is a writ
ten accusation which informs the
accused Of the nature and cause Of
the accusation against him. A
grand Jury consists of not less than
five nor more than seven persons.
1t meets in secret session and hears
only evidence presented by the
prosecution. If, after hearing such
evidence. four of their number con-
cur in the belief that a crime has
been committed and that there is
a reasonable ground to believe that
the defendant committed the crime
it finds a true bill and presents it
+ to the court. Since only the Com
\ monwealth's side of the case is
put before the grand jury. the find
ing of an indictment cannot be con-
sidered as any evidence Of the de-
+ PENDANTS guilt
On the day of the trial the de-
PENDANT is arraigned in open court;
! that is. the Indictment is read to
him and he is asked whether he
pleads guilty or not guilty. If he
! pleads guilty he is tried by the
court without jury. If he pleads
not guilty, he is tried by the jury.
He may. however. after having adj
vlsed by counsel, waive trial by
jury with the consent of the attor-