Being called as a witness for trial
 

Disclaimer: This article is written based off of personal experiences. Be aware that laws and actions taken may vary by age, state, or country.

Being called as a witness for a trial can be a daunting and scary experience if you are directly involved or witnessed a crime take place. You may feel confused, scared, or conflicted being a witness, unsure of what to expect or what will happen. This article will explain the differences of being the main witness and being an eyewitness, the different areas of a trial, and the purpose of trials.

What is a trial?
A trial is a legal court proceeding of a criminal offense that needs to be proven in court. Trials can last between a few days to weeks or longer.

Why you were called as a witness?
You may be called to testify in a trial if you were directly involved with a crime (main witness or victim), you witnessed the crime happen, or if you know the accused and the investigators need more evidence they might call you as a character witness.

Do you legally have to go to trial?
A subpoena is a legal court document ordering you to attend court. If you receive one, it is your responsibility to attend the court dated trial. If you do not attend you could face legal trouble. Usually, a subpoena will explain this in the document; it could explain what might happen if you do not show up to court.

What does it mean when you are the victim, but called as a witness?
Investigators may call you as a witness if you were the victim and the main witness in the investigation. In any type of crime, if you are directly involved you are referred to as the "main witness". The difference between being a eyewitness and being the main witness is: the eyewitness saw the crime occur, and the main witness is the victim of the crime that occurred.

Investigators rely a lot on the main witness for information.

What is the difference between Crown Attorney and Defense Lawyer?
Crown Attorneys and Defense Lawyers have their own roles during trials and court proceedings. During a criminal trial Crown Attorneys are appointed to the victim (main witness) and to other witnesses; they will represent them during the trial. A Defense Lawyer is hired by the accused to represent them during a trial.

Crown Attorney: A Crown Attorney represents the victim during a criminal trial. The role of the Crown is to ask the victim questions in order to understand what happened, including the events and facts about the crime. The Crown is also important because they will start a trial by asking the main witness about the crime. This allows the Judge to know what the trial is about.

Defense Lawyer: The main purpose of a Defense Lawyer is representing the accused during the trial. Their jobs are to cross examine the main witness and eyewitnesses for any information that might be untrue.

The Judge's role
The Judge is assigned court cases for trials. Judges are not given any information about the crime or what happened. The Judge arrives to court and will learn what crime occurred. They take in facts, information, evidence, statements, and the experiences of the main witness and eyewitnesses. They gather all the information that both the Crown Attorney and Defense Lawyer present during the trial.

Once the Judge hears both sides from the victim and the accused, they will review all the facts, information, evidence, statements, and the experiences of the eyewitnesses. This will lead to the Judge making a ruling.

The jury's role
In some places juries are used, depending on the severity of the crime. Juries usually consist of twelve men and woman who will listen to the evidence as it is presented. Once all the evidence is presented the jury will give their verdict. If the jury finds the person guilty the judge usually decides on the person's sentence.