This week there was an interesting article regarding courts setting time limits of trials.
To expedite trials and control lawyer excesses, judges have sometimes imposed limits. Some judges restrict the lawyer’s ability to make objections or motions, limit counsel’s argument to the jury, stop the lawyer’s excessive interrogation of witnesses, deny requests for a recess, or restrict a lawyer’s communication with her client. Some of these restrictions have been upheld as appropriate methods to administer a trial; others, by contrast, have been struck down as arbitrary impediments to the client’s ability to obtain a fair trial. When they are struck down, the appellate decision, whether a civil or criminal trial, usually does not accuse the judge of being overbearing, although in some cases that would accurately describe the judge’s conduct.
This already really exists in most courts in some areas of trial. In jury selection for a Lubbock DWI trial the state and the defense usually get around an hour each to do “voir dire” or talk with the jury. I’ve said for a long time that really an hour is too long. Voir dire is not a time to try and tell the jury about the facts in the case. Often now I see a prosecutor try and go over every part of their case and get the folks on the panel to agree that the parts they go over are bad and therefore …you get the picture. I think what the prosecutor wants to do is take each part of the Lubbock DWI case that the they believe the defendant did not do well with and try and get the jury to commit (without actually asking them to “commit”) that if the jury sees this they will convict the defendant.
On a misdemeanor DWI trial in Lubbock the jury consists of 6 people. The two courts that try these DWI’s usually request 18-20 people and we select 6. I think that 30 minutes is plenty of time to visit with folks about the areas I what to know about. I also think that these trials should go much faster than they currently do. I’ll talk more about other areas soon.
As the article says the real ability of a good trial lawyer is to be prepared and put the information on in a complete but fluid pace.
As a Lubbock DWI trial attorney I enjoy trying cases and providing information and true science to a jury. I’m not trying to hide things from the jury, I believe if the jury hears the true science rather than government junk science my client has a better chance to be found Not Guilty. If you or a loved one have questions about a Lubbock or west Texas DWI call me, Stephen Hamilton DWI Trial Attorney at 806 794 0394.
