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CHAPTER 35
THE CLOSING
STAGE OF A BENCH
TRIAL: RENEWAL OF
THE MOTION FOR
ACQUITTAL; CLOSING
ARGUMENT
§ 35.01 The Functions of the Motion for Acquittal
and Closing Argument in a Bench Trial;
Consolidation of the Motion and Closing
in a Single Argument
In order to explain the resp ective functions of the motion for acquitt al and closing argu-
ment in a bench trial, it is necessar y to begin by describing their func tions in a jury trial,
in which the roles of fact-finder and arbiter of legal issues are dist inct. In a jur y trial
the motion for acquittal is addressed to the judge as the arbiter of legal issues. It asks
the judge to rule as a matter of law that t he respondent cannot be convicted because,
even crediting all of t he prosecution’s evidence and drawing every reasonable inference
from it in favor of the prosecution, no reasonable juror could find the respondent guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. (This motion for acquittal, which is made at the conclusion
of all the evidence, is a renewal of the mot ion made at the conclusion of the prosecution’s
case (see Chapter 32) and raises the same issue, but that issue is now presented on the
basis of the evidence introduced by both par ties.) In contrast, the closing arg ument to
the jury ask s the jurors to find as a matter of fact that the prosecution has not sustained
its burden of proving the respondent guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
In a bench trial, in which both legal and factual determinations are made by the
judge, the distinct ion between the motion for acquittal and the closing argument
becomes blurred. Moreover, as a matter of logistics, judges will not tolerate counsel’s
wasting the cour t’s time by first arguing all of the facts in the context of a motion for a
judgment of acquittal and then rearg uing the facts in closing argu ment.
