JudyeDelcastillo574: Created page with 'In every criminal test, the defendant faces an important strategic decision: to testify or to never testify. Those outside the criminal justice system usually tend to view this d…'

JudyeDelcastillo574 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:59:04 GMT

Created page with 'In every criminal test, the defendant faces an important strategic decision: to testify or to never testify. Those outside the criminal justice system usually tend to view this d…'

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In every criminal test, the defendant faces an important strategic decision: to testify or to never testify. Those outside the criminal justice system usually tend to view this decision in simple terms, believing that the innocent will take the stand and tell their side with the story while those with something to cover will not. Experienced criminal lawyers know that the decision is far more complex and rarely has anything to do with guilt or innocence.

Testifying is fraught with peril for any defendant. Guilty or simple, if the defendant will take the stand, the case will more than likely turn on his performance being a witness. With so much on the line, the pressure on this defendant is enormous. One false step and your dog could lose his case. During cross-examination, a skilled prosecutor will make an attempt to confuse him and twist his words to make it appear that he is lying. If he's an undesirable public speaker or gets nervous and says the incorrect thing, he may appear guilty despite the fact that he's not. If the jury is put off by his tone and also demeanor, or simply doesn't like him for inexplicable reasons, the defense may for no reason recover.

Apart from this impression the defendant helps make during his testimony, the mere act of testifying can have the unintended effect of lowering the burden of proof. In a criminal case, a conviction requires proof beyond a practical doubt, the highest standard of proof within our legal system. When the only real evidence presented comes from the prosecutor, the jury discusses whether the prosecutor provides met that high burden of proof. Once that defendant testifies, however, jurors usually tend to focus solely on that they believe, the defendant or the alleged victim. Rather than weighing the prosecutor's case with extraordinarily high standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the jurors usually tend to weigh the defendant's story with prosecutor's or the victim's account. This effectively lowers the standard of proof to an issue approaching a preponderance standard (very likely than not) and dramatically reduces the chances the defendant will win the outcome.

Finally, in some cases, there is truth to the widely held belief that a defendant who chooses to never testify is hiding something. Court rules normally limit the research admitted at trial compared to that which bears directly relating to the alleged crime. Evidence of uncharged misconduct together with prior criminal convictions is usually excluded for fear that jurors who face such evidence will convict the defendant since they believe him to be a bad person rather than because they are presented proof that he or she actually committed the charged crime. If a defendant testifies, however, he may open the door for the utilization of such evidence by your prosecution. Knowing that evidence of prior bad acts may well prejudice the jury against him, the defendant may elect not to testify so that it will avoid any risk associated with exposing the jury to help such damaging evidence.

Because skin color risks involved when a defendant testifies, many criminal defense attorneys advise their clients, regardless of identified guilt or innocence, not to testify unless absolutely vital. This advice frustrates a variety of defendants who desperately wish to proclaim their innocence to your jury. Most criminal defense attorneys have discovered the hard way, nevertheless, that it is constantly much safer to breach the prosecutor's case than to position on one of your own.

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JudyeDelcastillo574: Created page with 'In every criminal test, the defendant faces an important strategic decision: to testify or to never testify. Those outside the criminal justice system usually tend to view this d…'