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Criminal Defense Blog

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Springfield Criminal Attorney Adam Woody Weighs in on the Greitens Case

Springfield criminal defense attorney Adam Woody was interviewed by the local CBS affiliate KOLR10 earlier this week regarding the case involving Governor Eric Greitens.  Last week, a Judge surprisingly denied Governor Greitens’ request to waive his right to a jury trial.  Gov. Greitens’ legal team desired a bench trial only, but the Judge denied that request and is now requiring him to have a jury trial if he wants a trial at all.  A bench trial involves only a Judge hearing the case and deciding guilt or innocence, as opposed to a jury.

KOLR10 interviewed Adam Woody to discuss the pros and cons of a jury trial versus a bench trial.  To see that interview in full click here.  In this particular case, it is going to be exceedingly difficult to get 12 people onto a jury who do not have some sort of intimate knowledge of this case.  One concern defendants often have of juries is that they will let their emotions get in the way of the law and reason.  More than likely that was the concern here for Governor Greitens’ defense team.  A Judge is often more suited to hear a case, apply the law to the facts, and leave emotion out of it.  The prosecutors here will likely want to use the emotion of the case to drive the jury’s decision.

This is certainly one we will keep a close eye on.