THE IMPORTANCE OF TRIAL OBJECTIONS BY THE ATTORNEY

By

Mary de la Peña, Esq.

co-author of A Layman’s Guide to Criminal Defense

       

        Trial attorneys need to be on the top of their game whenever they are in trial. They need to listen to the witnesses, listen to the prosecutor, be aware of the jury’s reaction to evidence as it’s being presented, and most importantly they need to make sure that timely objections are made to whatever is happening in the court that may constitute error. That means one of the most important job they have is preserving the record for appeal by making timely objections so no issue is left on the table without a ruling.

        What do I mean by that?

An objection is in essence a “time out” called by the attorney to make sure the judge knows that the attorney believes something irregular or illegal is happening during a court proceeding. It can be during the presentation of the evidence, or during court business outside the presence of the jury, such as finding an interpreter for the defendant or witnesses; or even making objections to suggested jury instructions. All are important, and all require strict attention to detail by the attorney.

How important are timely objections?

They are so critically important that if they are not made the appellate court will not even address the issue on appeal. In other words, if the attorney does not preserve the record or make the objections by calling the “time out”, the reviewing courts will not address the issue on appeal.

In just the last two weeks several critical cases were ruled on by different Courts of Appeal in California, and in each case the courts refused to address the points presented because the attorney did not object and the issues were left on the table and never had a ruling by the trial court.

What were these issues?

These issues included:

v  whether a defendant was afforded a competent understanding of the trial by having an interpreter [People v. Sokou, 2^nd District, decided June 25, 2015];

v  whether the jury instruction given to the jury was proper and adequate [People v. Rojas, 5^th District, decided June 22, 2015]; and

v  whether the prosecutor committed error by improperly vouching for his witnesses truthfulness [4^th District, decided June 18, 2015].

As you see, these are important issues. Yet, because the attorney did not make a timely objection the defendant will never have their case completely addressed by a higher court.

What is the take-away from all of this?

If you are an attorney, make the objection even if you are over-ruled.

If you are a defendant, or a family member of a defendant, make sure your attorney knows the legal objections.

Remember—a timely objection is critical. Don’t leave it on the table.