As a defendant in a criminal prosecution in California you have a number of rights guaranteed to you by the United States Constitution as well as the California State Constitution. Among those rights is the right to a trial by a jury of your peers. This is one of the “Should I Take My Criminal Case to Jury Trial in California?”

As a defendant in a misdemeanor prosecution you have a right to have a jury trial on a misdemeanor in California; however, you may need to assert that right early in the case.