Most criminal cases never reach a jury. They are dismissed, diverted, or resolved by agreement. But the possibility of trial is what gives every other conversation its weight, and a case handled by someone unwilling to try it is a case negotiated from weakness.
Here is what the process actually looks like in an Arizona courtroom.
Your Right to a Jury
Felony charges carry a right to a jury trial. Misdemeanors are more complicated than people expect.
Arizona does not guarantee a jury for every misdemeanor. Whether one attaches depends on the nature of the offense, its historical treatment, and the severity of the consequences. Some misdemeanors are tried to a judge alone. DUI charges carry a jury right, which is one reason those cases are litigated differently from other misdemeanors.
Jury size varies with exposure. Arizona requires twelve jurors where the authorized sentence is death or imprisonment for thirty years or more. Other criminal juries are smaller, with eight the standard in Superior Court and fewer in limited jurisdiction courts.
Whatever the size, the verdict must be unanimous.
Jury Selection Works Differently Here Than Anywhere Else
This is the part that genuinely sets Arizona apart, and most national guidance is wrong about it.
Effective January 1, 2022, Arizona became the first state in the country to eliminate peremptory challenges entirely, in both criminal and civil trials. Lawyers can no longer strike a juror without giving a reason. A juror may be removed only for cause, on a showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the juror cannot render a fair and impartial verdict.
The Arizona Supreme Court made the change after a task force examined whether juries reflected their communities. Research published by the Arizona State Law Journal found that minority representation on juries increased without longer trials, more mistrials, or more convictions.
The practical consequence for a defendant is significant. Voir dire, the questioning of prospective jurors, now carries the entire weight of jury selection. There is no second chance to remove someone who worries you. Preparing questions that actually surface bias has become one of the more important skills in Arizona trial practice.
Opening Statements
The prosecutor goes first and outlines what the State expects to prove. The defense may give an opening immediately after or reserve it until the State rests.
Openings are not evidence and jurors are told so. They still shape how everything afterward gets heard.
The State’s Case
The prosecution calls its witnesses and introduces its exhibits. Your attorney cross examines each witness.
This is where the work done months earlier pays off. Prior inconsistent statements from a preliminary hearing transcript, gaps in reports, and problems with how evidence was collected all surface here. Our guide to evidence in criminal cases covers how that material gets built and challenged.
The State carries the burden on every element, beyond a reasonable doubt, from beginning to end. That burden never shifts.
The Motion Most People Never Hear About
When the State rests, the defense can move for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that no reasonable jury could convict on the evidence presented.
Courts grant these sparingly. They are still worth making on every count, because a granted motion ends that charge without the jury ever deliberating, and because it preserves the issue for appeal.
The Defense Case
You are not required to present one. The defense may call witnesses, introduce exhibits, and offer testimony, or may rest without doing anything at all and argue that the State failed to meet its burden.
Where justification is at issue, the allocation matters enormously. In Arizona, once evidence of self defense or another justification is presented, the State must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. That is not the rule in most states and it changes how a defense case gets built, particularly in violent crime prosecutions and homicide cases.
Should You Testify?
Your call, not your lawyer’s, though it is a decision to make together and usually late in the trial.
Testifying lets jurors hear directly from you and can be essential where your state of mind is the issue. It also opens you to cross examination and can allow prior convictions to be used for impeachment.
If you do not testify, jurors are instructed that they may not hold it against you. Whether they follow that instruction is a question every trial lawyer weighs.
Closing, Instructions, Deliberation
Closing arguments come next, with the State arguing first and last because it carries the burden.
The judge then instructs the jury on the law, including the elements of each offense, the definition of reasonable doubt, and any justification defense in play. Those instructions are fought over outside the jury’s presence and matter more than most people realize.
Deliberation follows. There is no time limit. A jury that cannot reach a unanimous verdict is a hung jury, which results in a mistrial, and the State may retry the case.
The Verdict
Guilty, not guilty, or no verdict at all.
An acquittal ends it permanently, and double jeopardy bars retrial on that charge. A conviction moves the case to sentencing, generally after a presentence report and a hearing, described in our guide to how sentencing works.
Juries may also convict on a lesser included offense, which is frequently the realistic objective.
After a Conviction
Post trial motions come first, including a motion for new trial, with short deadlines.
A defendant convicted after trial may appeal to the Arizona Court of Appeals, and Yuma County sits in Division One. An appeal reviews the trial record for legal error rather than reweighing the evidence.
That right is one of the things given up by resolving a case through a plea agreement, and it belongs in the calculation when an offer is on the table. Cases tried in the federal system follow their own appellate track.
Talk to an Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney
Trials are won and lost in the months of preparation before anyone walks into a courtroom. Citrine Law handles criminal defense throughout Yuma County and appears regularly for clients charged near the border. The consultation is free, we work in English and Spanish, and nothing you tell us leaves this office. Call us today.