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| Patrick Ducharme |
The presiding Judge in a jury trial is entitled to confer with counsel for the accused and the prosecutor concerning any matter that should be explained to the jury by the trial Judge in instructing the jury.1 The accused, or if any one of several jointly charged and tried accused, may declare whether or not she intends to adduce evidence on behalf of the accused. Where the accused or all of several accused announce that they do not intend to adduce evidence, the prosecutor is required to address the jury first.2 Counsel for the accused is only able to provide an opening address to the jury if evidence is called by that counsel.
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme's book, Canadian Criminal Procedure, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing along with Criminal Trial Strategies.
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