At the end of the trial, when the lawyers are all done showing evidence to the jury and telling the jury their side of the story, it will be time for the jury to decide who wins. In order to do this, the jury will have to decide whether anyone broke the law. That’s hard to do if the members of the jury don’t know all the details of the laws involved in the case.
This is where you, the judge, have another job to do. You have to tell the jury exactly what the law is so they don’t make a mistake.
The jury’s decision is called the verdict. The verdict is read out loud in the courtroom. Example: “We find the Defendant to be guilty.” And after that the trial is over.
But is the case really over? I hate to break this to you, but you’re not the only judge in the judicial branch. While you’ve been working at the trial court level, there are judges above you in the Court of Appeals, and judges above them in the Supreme Court.