In every criminal trial that we see in the movies, on TV, and even in real life, the judge asks the person who is charged with the crime to stand while the jury verdict is read.
It is his day of reckoning.
That is the moment when he hears what the jury has to say.
He has chosen to let a jury determine whether he is guilty or innocent.
Typically, his attorney will stand up with him.
It's a show of solidarity.
What happens though in a civil trial?
In a case involving an accident matter?
In a car accident matter?
In a medical malpractice case?
In a wrongful death trial?
Let's say this is a medical malpractice trial.
You have sued the doctor who caused you harm.
You've put on all your testimony.
You presented all your evidence.
Your experts testified that your doctor violated the basic standards of medical care causing you injury.
Did you know that in civil lawsuits, the people you have sued are not always in court?
Did you know that in a medical malpractice trial, the doctor is often busy seeing and treating patients and cannot always be in court, even for the verdict?
If the person whom you have sued is not in court, how then can the judge ask him to stand when the verdict is read?
Is there any requirement for the person whom you have sued to stand when the jury verdict is read?
If the person whom you have sued is in court, do they have to stand when the jury reaches their verdict in a civil lawsuit?
The answer is no.
There is no requirement for someone who is being sued in a civil lawsuit to stand when the jury reaches their verdict.
To learn even more, I invite you to watch the video below...
