When you think of a courtroom, you’re probably thinking of a trial court. One judge, a jury box, a witness box, tables for the attorneys, and benches for spectators. The real ones aren’t usually as picturesque as the ones on TV, but they still have all of those things.
The thing that sets a trial court apart from an appellate court is, first and foremost, a witness box. Trial courts hear witnesses, and take evidence, and make decisions about facts. Those decisions might be made by the judge or by a jury. If the facts are not in dispute, there’s no purpose to a trial. Of course, there are proceedings in the trial court besides an actual trial, such as arraignment (formal notice of the charges), a bail or release hearing, an omnibus hearing or other motion hearing, the trial itself or a guilty plea hearing, and sentencing.
Most criminal cases don’t go to trial. Rather, most cases are resolved by a plea bargain; which means that the defendant agrees not to contest the facts. Other cases may be resolved by a pre-trial procedure of some sort, such as a motion to suppress or a motion to dismiss. In the few cases that actually go to a trial in front of a jury, few are won by an eloquent closing argument, and even fewer are won by a last-minute surprise witness. Good trial work is one-third theater, or at least good rhetoric and presentation, one-third knowledge of the law, and one-third thorough, exhaustive preparation.
