US-CA8 · jury_instructions
8th Cir. Model Jury Instr. (Criminal) 1.09
Outline of Trial
The trial will proceed in the following manner:
First, the [government] [prosecution] will make an opening statement. [Next the defendant's attorney may, but does not have to, make an opening statement.]1 An opening statement is not evidence but is simply a summary of what the attorney expects the evidence to be.
The [government] [prosecution] will then present its evidence and counsel for the defendant may crossexamine. [Following the [government's] [prosecution's] case, the defendant may, but does not have to, present evidence, testify or call other witnesses. If the defendant calls witnesses, the [government] [prosecution] may cross-examine them.]2
After presentation of evidence is completed, the attorneys will make their closing arguments to summarize and interpret the evidence for you. As with opening statements, closing arguments are not evidence. The court will instruct you further on the law. After that you will retire to deliberate on your verdict.
Provenance
- Source
- juryinstructions.ca8.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-19
- Edition
- 2026-08-19
- Content hash
11394c5d70bfcbd1b0adc5db466e9ad9969a0fdef717ce50261679ea27a1e83e
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