What Is The Difference Between A Question Of Law And A Question Of Fact?

In criminal trials, the role of the judge is different from the role of the jury.  The case has not proceeded according to the dictates of the law or of justice if the judge or jurors overstep their roles.  Jurors are supposed to be completely unbiased for or against the defendant.  They must simply listen to the testimony and arguments, look at the exhibits shown to them by the prosecution and defense, and then deliberate privately until they reach a unanimous verdict about whether the defendant is innocent or guilty.  Before the case gets to that stage, the judge must make any decisions to ensure that the trial is fair and the jury can make a fair decision.  Issues that judges decide in criminal cases are called questions of law, and issues that juries decide are called questions of fact.  For help persuading judges and juries on questions of law and questions of fact, respectively, contact a West Palm Beach criminal defense lawyer.

Judges Have the Authority to Decide Questions of Law

In criminal trials were the defendant stands to face a long prison sentence is convicted or where there is room for disagreement about whether the state violated the Constitutional rights of the defendant in order to obtain the evidence, the prosecution and defense often file motions in which they ask the judge to make a decision about which evidence to present to the jury, or even whether the case should proceed to trial at all.  These are called questions of law.  The following are examples of questions of law which judges may decide in a criminal case:

• Did the police have probable cause for the arrest, if they did not obtain a warrant before arresting the defendant?
• Did the police coerce the defendant into confessing?
• Is a potential juror too biased about a matter related to the case to be suitable to serve on the jury?
• Is it in the interest of justice to pursue the case and formally announce the criminal charges against the defendant?
• Is a certain piece of evidence relevant to the case?

Juries Have the Authority to Decide Questions of Fact

The prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judge must sort out all of these questions before the jury is sworn in.  Sometimes the pretrial phase can take a year, or even more, if there are a lot of hotly contested questions of law.  Only then can the prosecution and defense neatly frame the questions of fact and present their perspectives on it.  The questions of fact that the jury must decide relate to whether the defendant’s actions and, if applicable, apparent motivation unambiguously fit the definition of the criminal charge that the defendant is facing.  The jury cannot convict the defendant unless all 12 jurors agree that there is no room for reasonable doubt about the questions of fact that they are being asked to decide.

Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today

Attorney William Wallshein has more than 38 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County.  Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

law.cornell.edu/wex/question_of_fact