| When a defendant is accused of a criminal offense and the defendant pleads not guilty to the offense, the defendant's trial may involve a two-stage process, depending upon whether the defendant is tried by a jury or a trial judge. The two-stage process involves the guilt or innocence stage of the trial and the punishment stage of the trial.
If a defendant is tried by a jury, the defendant's trial is generally a two-stage process. The jury first hears evidence regarding the defendant's guilt or innocence. If the jury returns a not guilty verdict, the defendant is discharged. If the jury return a guilty verdict, either the trial judge or the jury determines the defendant's punishment. In most states, the jury will assess the defendant's punishment if the defendant's case involves the death penalty or if the defendant elected to have the jury assess his or her punishment at the commencement of the trial.
If a jury assesses a defendant's punishment, the same jury that determined the defendant's guilt will determine the defendant's punishment. The jury will assess punishment for each count of an indictment or an information for which the defendant was found guilty. The jury's verdict is not complete until it assesses punishment for the defendant.
If a jury's assessment of punishment is uncertain or indefinite, the punishment is void. A trial court cannot render judgment on a verdict that is uncertain with regard to punishment. If the jury returns a verdict that contains both authorized and unauthorized punishments, the trial court may reform the verdict in order to allow the authorized punishment and to omit the unauthorized punishment. The trial court may also send the verdict back to the jury with instructions for the jury to render a legal sentence. The trial court may further reduce the unauthorized punishment to an authorized punishment.
If a defendant is tried at a bench trial, a trial court may conduct a two-stage process in the defendant's trial. It may first hear evidence on the defendant's guilt or innocence and then hear evidence on the defendant's punishment. Although the trial court is not required to conduct the two-stage process, it must allow the defendant to present evidence regarding his or her punishment after the trial court finds the defendant guilty. Also, one trial judge may hear evidence on the defendant's guilt or innocence and another trial judge may hear evidence on the defendant's punishment.
The two-stage process in a defendant's trial is not necessary if the defendant pleads guilty to an offense. Although there are times when a jury will be called to assess the defendant's punishment, even when the defendant has pled guilty, this is not the usual practice.
A defendant usually makes a decision as to who will determine punishment prior to his or her trial. If a pretrial hearing is held, the defendant must elect at the pretrial hearing whether a jury or a trial judge will determine his or her punishment. The defendant's decision may involve various factors. Such factors are similar to those factors that determine whether the defendant's innocence or guilt should be decided by a jury or by a trial judge. Such factors include the severity of the offense, the amount of pretrial publicity in the defendant's case, or the types of witnesses that will testify in the defendant's case.
In cases that do not involve the death penalty, a defendant may change his or her decision regarding who will determine punishment for the defendant's offense. However, the change is usually required to be made with the prosecutor's consent. Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. |