The judge who has legal authority over a case is known as the presiding judge. Presiding judges can work in a variety of settings, including the state court system, district courts, courts of appeals, family courts, bankruptcy courts, and tax courts. The presiding judge makes decisions about how the law should be applied in a particular case.
In many cases, juries in the United States’ justice system decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. Unless a person waives his right to a jury trial, which is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, the jury will hear the evidence, decide who is telling the truth, and pronounce guilt or innocence. However, even in jury trials, a presiding judge plays an important role.
While a jury determines guilt or innocence, a number of legal rules govern how a trial is conducted. For example, in order to bring a case to court, each party must have sufficient evidence that a reasonable question of law exists. The other party can file a motion to dismiss if one party has no evidence at all. If this happens, the presiding judge will weigh the evidence and decide whether to dismiss the case or allow it to go to trial.
There are numerous other legal questions and issues that a presiding judge is responsible for deciding. The judge must follow the rules of evidence when determining what evidence is and is not admissible for either side to present to the jury. If the parties have a disagreement during this formal exchange of information, he must determine what information each party can request from the other during discovery. He must also decide whether or not lawyers’ objections are valid, as well as what instructions are given to a jury.
A case can be appealed if a judge does not apply the law correctly. When this happens, the legal findings of the judge who presided over the original trial are reviewed by a higher court. While the appeals court will not generally overturn the jury’s findings of fact, it can change the case’s outcome and/or remand the case to the original court for retrial with additional instructions for the judge if it believes the original judge erred in his application of legal rules.