Trial A trial was a way to settle a dispute . In a trial all participating parties presented information ( in the form of evidence ) in a formal setting . With most species within the United Federation of Planets , this was done in a court , before a judge , jury or arbiter . A trial decision was called a verdict and is considered a just resolution to a matter . A trial was generally distinguished from a hearing in that it was usually more formal and generally takes into consideration many more elements . Ultimately the trial was ended with the presiding individuals issuing judgment in the form of a ruling or sentencing . ( ) Purpose of trial . A trial consisted of a prosecutor and defender who represent the disputing parties . In most cases a trial was used to determine guilt or innocence of a defendant , while the prosecutor attempted to prove the defendant as guilty . On some worlds the trial was simply entertainment . Under Cardassian law , guilt was confirmed prior to Court proceedings . ( ) Sometimes a trial was a last resort when other possibilities were exhausted . When the Federation received an extradition request , a hearing was held to determine if enough evidence exists to warrant a trial . If it is decided that sufficient evidence exists , the charged individual is turned over to the other government and then is subject to their legal system . The Bajoran s handled extradition requests in a similar fashion . ( ; ) At Klingon trials , lawyer s were called advocate s . ( ) Notable trials . The Q Continuum featured a Judge Q who was a high ranking official with the ability to control the powers and lives of any in the continuum – ranging from removal of powers to change in form . In 2377 , Judge Q determined the future of Q ' s son , , after he underwent testing by the crew of the , following a streak of misbehaving and trouble making . After bumpy testing with problems and successes , Judge Q sentenced " Junior " to serve his life as a Human . This sentence was eventually changed by persuasion from Q , and his son ' s powers were restored . ( ) The Salem witch trials were a series of trials held through 1691 in Salem , Massachusetts , during a period when individuals were persecuted for the alleged crime of " witch craft " . The Megan s , a group of alien s from Megas - Tu who tried to help Human s with the art of wizard ry , settled in Salem after realizing that Humans only wished to use them to serve greed and lust . They chose to live their lives there as " normal men " to avoid the accusations of being " devil s , warlock s and evil sorcerer s . " Unfortunately , while living in Salem , several of the Megans made mistakes and used their powers , and were " burned for it as witches . " Those Megans who escaped the witch trials were forced to leave Earth and return to their homeworld , where they remained bitter and fearful of Humans . In 2269 , the made contact with the Megans , but due to the Megans distrust of Humans , the " Enterprise " crew was placed in a recreation of a Salem witch trial . ( ) Lack of trial . On some worlds such as Earth , the lack of trial was considered unjust . On other worlds it was not normal to hold a trial . The Rakhari considered all crimes as serious but had no trials on their homeworld . Enemies of the government were punished by killing their family members . ( )