Directed Verdicts Are An Eleventh Hour Victory For The Defendant

If your case goes to trial, your greatest hope is that the jury will deliver a verdict of not guilty.  Once the jury goes to the jury chambers to deliberate, it is anyone’s guess what the verdict will be, but at least you will know how your case ends.  Until the moment the trial begins, anything can happen.  The judge might decide, based on a motion filed by your lawyer, to exclude a key piece of evidence, or someone who once claimed to have seen you commit the crime may refuse to testify; either of these could mean that the court drops the case against you, clearing you of the charges.  Once the trial begins, guilty and not guilty are, for all practical purposes, the only options.  Any other possible outcome is unlikely.  It is possible that the jury will not be able to reach a unanimous decision and the court will declare a mistrial.  It is also possible, but even less likely, that the judge will issue a directed verdict, instructing the jury to acquit you.  A Tampa criminal defense lawyer can help you understand the criminal process, both its mundane aspects and its surprises.

When the Judge Tells the Jury Directly That the Defendant Is Not Guilty

The last thing that happens before the jury goes away to start its private deliberations is that the judge reads them the jury instructions.  Jury instructions must be neutral; judges write a unique set of jury instructions for each case, and the prosecution and defense have a chance to review them and suggest changes.  You might be surprised to find out, though, that after the judge and jury hear all the evidence, the judge directly tells the jury that the only plausible interpretation of the evidence is that the defendant is not guilty.

It sounds like something that would only happen in the movies, and in fact, directed verdicts in criminal cases are vanishingly rare.  If the judge is certain that the evidence is not sufficient to secure a conviction, a more likely outcome is that the judge will dismiss the case before the trial begins.

Why Do Directed Verdicts Exist?

Why would the state go through the expense of a trial if the judge already knows that the defendant is not guilty?  Directed verdicts are sometimes in the interest of justice.  Given their educational background, judges are more knowledgeable about the law than most jurors are.  The judge’s role is to decide matters of law, and the jury’s role is to decide matters of fact.  When a decision about a matter of fact rests on a matter of law about which the jury may be unaware even at the end of the trial, the judge may issue a directed verdict.  This happens more often in civil trials than criminal ones.

Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are fighting your charges and going to trial.  Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.

Sources:

nolo.com/dictionary/directed-verdict-term.html#:~:text=In%20a%20criminal%20case%2C%20a,of%20acquittal%20for%20the%20defendant.

law.cornell.edu/wex/directed_verdict#:~:text=Primary%20tabs,a%20motion%20by%20either%20party.