You hear this clip on the TV: "Testimony was given by the defense today in the case of State v. Justin B. Goode." What part of the trial process does this describe, and what will happen next? A:The case is in the jury selection phase, and the trial will follow. B:The case is in the trial phase, and the judge's charge to the jury will follow. C:The case is in the deliberation phase, and the jury selection will follow. D:The case is in the judge's charge to the jury phase, and the verdict will follow.

B: The case is in the trial phase, and the judge's charge to the jury will follow.

In a trial by jury there are 6 stages

Choosing a Jury.

Opening Statements.

Witness Testimony and Cross-Examination.

Closing Arguments.

Jury Instruction.

Jury Deliberation and Verdict.

With the above in mind, let's look at the options.

A: The case is in the jury selection phase, and the trial will follow.

* Since we know that testimony has been given, that means that the jury has to already been selected. So this option is wrong.

B: The case is in the trial phase, and the judge's charge to the jury will follow.

* This is quite true. The trial phase is where the opposing sides give their arguments to the jury. We still need the closing arguments, but that's still part of the trial phase. And after the trial phase is done, the Judge will instruct or charge the jury. So this is the correct choice.

C:The case is in the deliberation phase, and the jury selection will follow.

* From "A" above, we know that we already have a jury. So this option is wrong.

D:The case is in the judge's charge to the jury phase, and the verdict will follow.

* The Judge's charge to the jury is also the Jury Instruction stage. The Judge will inform the Jury as to what the law says and then allow the Jury to deliberate on the case to see if the law was violated. Since we just heard that the testimony was given, we're still in the trial phase and this Jury Instruction stage hasn't yet happened. So this is a bad choice.