Also known as: stands trial · stood trial · standing trial · face trial · be tried
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An adversarial criminal proceeding in which a defendant must answer charges before a court and factfinder. The proceeding requires the defendant to possess sufficient mental capacity to understand the nature of the charges and to assist in the defense. Due process prohibits trial when that capacity is lacking.
Federal prosecutors charged two men with conspiracy arising from the same drug shipment. The court ordered their cases consolidated under Rule 13 because the offenses and defendants could have been joined in one indictment. Both men therefore stood trial together before a single jury that heard all evidence in one proceeding.
Police obtained a statement from Simone Sanders without giving Miranda warnings. At her robbery trial the prosecution introduced the statement. Sanders stood trial and the jury considered the confession in determining guilt.
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A jury convicted Santiago Sanchez of a weapons offense. The judge then found that the offense involved a hate crime and imposed an enhanced sentence. Sanchez stood trial only on the elements charged in the indictment. The enhancement was later held to require jury determination.
Two defendants were tried together for bank robbery. One defendant's confession implicating the other was read to the jury without opportunity for cross-examination. The implicated defendant stood trial under circumstances later found to violate confrontation rights.
The prosecutor used peremptory strikes to remove all Black venire members from the panel in Solomon Silver's trial. Silver stood trial before an all-white jury after the strikes were upheld at the time. The conviction was later reversed because the strikes violated equal protection.
Stephen Shaw was charged with robbery punishable by life imprisonment. The court empaneled a six-person jury over his objection. Shaw stood trial and was convicted by that jury. The conviction was upheld under the Sixth Amendment.
A defendant lacks competence if mental disease or defect prevents a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings or the ability to consult with counsel. Due process forbids trial while the incapacity continues. The government may not impose a clear-and-convincing-evidence burden on the defendant to prove incompetence.
The state may not compel a defendant to stand trial in identifiable prison clothing because the practice is inherently prejudicial and erodes the presumption of innocence. A timely objection preserves the claim. Failure to object may waive it.
Yes. Even when a defendant is competent to stand trial, the Constitution permits the state to insist on representation by counsel if the defendant lacks the mental capacity to conduct the proceedings himself.
…acquired are protected by law and not resumable by the President. The question whether a right has vested is judicial and must be tried by judicial authority. The court has concluded the latest point of time at which the appointment was complete and evidenced was when, after the signature of the President, the seal of the…