The defense wants to stop your testimony in trial can the jury still elect to hear you tell your story? Or on the other hand, will the judge make the ultimate call on this issue in a Maryland court?
“I was really confused by everything that Dr. X was explaining to me and I voiced my concerns to him about it. After he explained himself further, I thought that everything would be ok. But now I know that Dr. X was lying to me about the procedure because Dr. Y…” (From the defense table” OBJECTION!!)
As was stated in the question above, essentially when there is an issue that presents itself at trial, like an objection, who makes the final call as to the admissibility of that evidence? Does the judge deal with issues like this or can the jury decide an objection?
THE DEFENSE WANTS TO STOP YOUR TESTIMONY
The defense wants to stop your testimony at trial because they think that it runs afoul of a legal requirement and they object in open court to the admissibility of the evidence. Before I give you the answer to the question at the root of this educational article, I think that if you have an understanding of the role of the jury and judge in a Maryland jury trial, you will be able to perform the analysis required to get to the correct answer.
One of the most important roles of a Maryland jury is to sort out the facts. Another way to look at the jury is to view them as the fact finder. They will listen to the facts and make a decision as to the facts and how the law applies to the facts.
One of the central roles of a judge in Maryland is to deal with all of the legal issues which come into play. An objection to testimony would fall into the category of a legal issue. For example, maybe the attorney is objecting to the testimony because it contains hearsay, or maybe it calls for a conclusion based on facts not in evidence, or maybe the testimony is irrelevant. There can be a number of reasons why an attorney is stating an objection to testimony.
SO WHO MAKES THE CALL?
Based on the earlier explanation, I hope you understand that in this example, the judge will make a ruling on the objection. Either the judge will sustain the objection, meaning that the witness cannot answer the question, or the judge will overrule the objection, meaning that the witness can give an answer.
If you have more questions regarding a medical injury that you have suffered in Maryland this is what I invite you to do. Pick up the phone and give me a call at 301-850-4832. I answer questions like yours all the time. Add to this I would be happy to listen to your story.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
Boston Law Group, LLC
2 Wisconsin Circle
Suite 700
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
