What is a half-time motion in a criminal case?

Let’s say you represent a client in a criminal matter. You, as a lawyer, work a lot on the case. You investigate it thoroughly. Interview all witnesses. You come up with a game plan with your client. And finally he tries to negotiate with the Prosecutor so that the charge is dismissed or at least reduced to a lesser charge.

The prosecutor says no to this and the case is preparing for trial. Specifically a jury trial. Well, anyone familiar with a jury trial in a criminal case knows that the Prosecutor has to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict the defendant. And the jury must unanimously agree on its verdict to find the defendant guilty.

But what many people may not know is that there is another way to have a criminal charge dismissed during a jury trial. And that’s making a “half time motion” to a judge. So what is a halftime move?

A halftime movement is exactly what it sounds like. It is a motion for dismissal filed by the defense after the Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed their chief case. Although it is not as simple as it seems, and it cannot be done in all cases. In order to be successful and for the motion to be granted, the defense attorney must do so in certain circumstances. Basically, when a criminal case has several elements of the charge. Which means that the Prosecutor has to prove several different things to convict the defendant of a single count.

If the Prosecutor’s Office has not proven one of the elements. The defense attorney can then file a motion to dismiss and argue if the evidence is viewed in the most favorable light for the Prosecutor’s Office, a prima facie case has not been established and, therefore, one of the elements has not been met and the charge or case must be evaluated. fired.

In most cases, this type of movement would not be applicable. The best cases to make this motion are cases that involve a specific element. For example, in a burglary case. Let’s say the defendant was in an area that was closed to the public. But if the Prosecutor has not proven or established that they were aware of this, then they cannot comply with one of the elements of the criminal offense.

Due to the remote possibility of actually prevailing with this type of movement. Not all cases are applicable. But in certain circumstances and in certain cases, this is a motion that can be presented to a judge and that can result in the charge being dismissed entirely without even reaching a jury.