What Happens at a Domestic Violence Trial in Michigan

A domestic violence trial in Michigan follows the same order as any criminal trial: jury selection, preliminary instructions, opening statements, the prosecution's evidence, the defense's evidence if it offers any, closing arguments, final instructions, deliberation and verdict.^[9][4][10] Throughout, the defendant is presumed innocent and the prosecutor must prove each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.^[1]

How long a trial lasts depends on the number of witnesses and the court's schedule. This page describes each stage and sets out what jurors are told about the charge.

The trial at a glance

1. Jury selection. Prospective jurors are sworn and questioned; jurors may be removed for cause or by peremptory challenge.^[9][11]
2. Preliminary instructions. After the jury is sworn and before evidence is taken, the court must instruct the jury on the elements of the charged offenses and on the presumptions and burdens of proof.^[4]
3. Opening statements. The prosecutor must make a full and fair statement of the case and the facts the prosecutor intends to prove, unless the parties and the court agree otherwise; the defendant may make a similar statement then or just before presenting evidence.^[4]
4. The prosecution's case. Witnesses testify and are cross-examined.^[12]
5. Motion for a directed verdict. Under the felony trial rules, on the defendant's motion the court must direct a verdict of acquittal on any charge for which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction.^[5]
6. The defense case. The defendant is not required to prove innocence or to do anything.^[1]
7. Closing arguments. The prosecutor argues first; if the defendant argues, the prosecutor may offer a rebuttal limited to the issues the defendant raised.^[10]
8. Final instructions, deliberation and verdict. The verdict must be unanimous.^[13]

Jury selection

A misdemeanor trial in district court is decided by 6 jurors and a felony trial in circuit court by 12.^[14][8] Under the felony rules, prospective jurors are sworn before selection begins, and the questioning, called voir dire, is conducted to discover grounds for challenges for cause and to help the parties use their peremptory challenges. The judge may ask the questions or allow the attorneys to do so.^[9]

Each defendant has 3 peremptory challenges in a district court trial and 5 in most felony trials, and the prosecutor has the same number as a defendant tried alone.^[11] Once the jury is selected, the jurors are sworn before the trial begins.^[9] If the defendant waived a jury with the prosecutor's consent and the court's approval, this stage is skipped and the judge decides the facts.^[15] See Bench trial or jury trial?

Preliminary instructions and opening statements

Before any evidence is heard, the judge must orally give the jury pretrial instructions, including the elements of all charged offenses and the legal presumptions and burdens of proof, and must give each juror a written copy.^[4]

The prosecutor then makes an opening statement. The defense may give its opening immediately afterward or wait until just before presenting its own evidence, and the court may set reasonable time limits.^[4] An opening statement is a preview of what a side expects the evidence to show.

The prosecution's case

The prosecutor presents evidence first. Witnesses are questioned by the side that called them and then cross-examined by the other side; the defendant has the right to have the witnesses against him or her appear at the trial and to question them.^[12]

In a domestic violence case the evidence can include the complaining witness's testimony, the responding officers' testimony, 911 audio, photographs and medical records. Each piece has to satisfy the Rules of Evidence. The guides to evidence used in domestic violence cases, 911 calls and prior acts of domestic violence cover the details.

If the complaining witness does not testify, or testifies differently

A trial does not automatically end because the complaining witness is absent, recants, or says he or she does not remember. The prosecution may turn to statements to police under MCL 768.27c, excited utterances and present sense impressions including 911 calls, former testimony from the preliminary examination, photographs and medical records.^[16] The Confrontation Clause limits this: a testimonial out-of-court statement of a witness who does not testify may be used against the defendant only if the witness is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity for cross-examination.^[17]

These issues have their own guides: When the victim does not come to court, Recanting and Hearsay and the Confrontation Clause.

The judge's control of questioning

The judge must exercise reasonable control over the examination of witnesses to protect them from harassment or undue embarrassment. In 2026 the Court of Appeals upheld a trial court that barred a self-represented defendant from personally cross-examining his former girlfriend at his trial for assault with intent to murder her.^[18] The court may also permit jurors to take notes and to submit questions for witnesses, which the judge asks after the parties have had a chance to object outside the jury's hearing.^[19]

The motion for a directed verdict

When the prosecutor rests, the defense may ask the judge to end the case without it going to the jury. Under the felony trial rules, after the prosecutor has rested, or after the close of all the evidence, the court on the defendant's motion must direct a verdict of acquittal on any charged offense for which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction.^[5] In a felony bench trial the defendant may move for acquittal at the same point on the ground that a reasonable doubt exists, without giving up the right to present evidence if the motion is denied.^[20]

The defense case

The defense may present witnesses and other evidence, and the defendant has the right to have the court order defense witnesses to appear.^[12] It is not obliged to present anything. Jurors are told that the defendant is not required to prove innocence or to do anything.^[1]

Whether the defendant testifies is the defendant's decision. Every defendant has the absolute right not to testify, and when the jury decides the case it must not consider the fact that the defendant did not testify.^[6]

If the defense is self-defense, the burden does not move to the defendant. The defendant does not have to prove that he or she acted in self-defense; once there is some evidence of it, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense.^[21] See Self-defense law and Defenses to domestic violence charges.

Closing arguments and final instructions

After the close of all the evidence the parties may make closing arguments. The prosecutor is entitled to argue first, and if the defendant makes an argument the prosecutor may offer a rebuttal limited to the issues raised in the defendant's argument.^[10]

The judge then instructs the jury on the law. The court must orally instruct the jury after closing arguments are made or waived, though it may choose, on notice to the parties, to instruct before the arguments, and it must provide a written copy of the final instructions for the jury room.^[10]

What the jury is told the prosecutor must prove

Michigan's Model Criminal Jury Instructions lay out the elements of a domestic assault charge this way:^[2][3]

Element	What jurors are told
1. Assault, or assault and battery	A battery is a forceful, violent or offensive touching of a person or something closely connected with the person; the touching must have been intended, not accidental, and against the complaining witness's will. An assault is an attempt to commit a battery or an act that would cause a reasonable person to fear an immediate battery.[2]
2. Domestic relationship	The complaining witness was the defendant's spouse or former spouse, had a child in common with the defendant, was a resident or former resident of the same household, or was a person with whom the defendant had or previously had a dating relationship.[3]
3. Aggravated domestic assault only	The assault caused a serious or aggravated injury: a physical injury that requires immediate medical treatment or that causes disfigurement, impairment of health, or impairment of a part of the body.[22]

Several related instructions shape how jurors apply those elements:

• Intent. The defendant must have intended either to commit a battery or to make the complaining witness reasonably fear an immediate battery; the model instructions treat all assaults as specific intent crimes.^[2][23]
• Injury. An assault does not have to cause an actual injury, and for a battery it does not matter whether the touching caused an injury.^[24]
• Dating relationship. It means frequent, intimate association primarily characterized by the expectation of affectional involvement, and does not include a casual relationship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context.^[25]
• Reasonable doubt. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is proof that leaves jurors firmly convinced of the defendant's guilt; a reasonable doubt is a fair, honest doubt growing out of the evidence or lack of evidence.^[26]
• Lesser offenses. When a more serious offense is charged, the jury may be told it may also consider the less serious crime of domestic assault.^[27]

One thing the jury is not told: when the prosecutor is seeking a repeat-offender sentence for domestic assault, the notice listing the prior convictions may not be read or otherwise disclosed to the jury. The prior convictions are established at sentencing, where the judge may rely on them if found by a preponderance of the evidence.^[28][29] The elements are discussed further in Domestic assault under MCL 750.81 and Can you be charged without an injury?

Deliberations and the verdict

Jurors are instructed to talk to each other and make every reasonable effort to reach agreement, and that a verdict in a criminal case must be unanimous. They are also told that none of them should give up an honest opinion just because other jurors disagree.^[13] In district court the judge may receive only a unanimous verdict from the 6 jurors, and the felony rules say the same of a 12-person jury.^[7][8]

Under the felony trial rules the jury must return its verdict in open court. Before the jury is discharged, the court may on its own, and on a party's motion must, have each juror polled on whether the verdict announced is that juror's verdict. If the poll shows the jurors are not in agreement, the court may order further deliberations or, after determining that the jury is deadlocked, declare a mistrial and discharge the jury.^[30]

After the verdict

Not guilty. The case ends. If the accused is found not guilty of an offense for which fingerprints were taken, the statute calls for the biometric data and arrest card to be destroyed on final disposition, with exceptions that include a person who has a prior conviction other than a misdemeanor traffic offense.^[31][32] See What shows on your record.

Guilty. The case moves to sentencing. In district court the judge must give the defense attorney, the defendant and the prosecutor an opportunity to speak and must permit any victim who is present to make an impact statement.^[33] A finding of guilt at trial does not rule out the domestic violence deferral: MCL 769.4a applies to a person who "pleads guilty to, or is found guilty of" a qualifying offense, though it requires the consent of both the accused and the prosecuting attorney and is in the court's discretion.^[34] See Possible outcomes of a domestic violence case and Will I go to jail?

For victims and witnesses

On the victim's request, the prosecutor must confer with the victim before trial.^[35] The victim has the right to be present throughout the entire trial unless the victim is going to be called as a witness; for good cause a victim who will testify may be sequestered until first testifying.^[36] The court must provide a waiting area separate from the defendant and defense witnesses if one is available and practical.^[37] See What to expect as a witness and Crime victims' rights.

What people get wrong

"The defendant has to prove self-defense." The prosecutor must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt once there is some evidence of it.^[21]

"No visible injury means no conviction." Injury is not an element of domestic assault.^[24]

"If the defendant stays silent, the jury can hold it against him." Jurors are told they must not consider it.^[6]

"Without the complaining witness there is no trial." The case can proceed on other admissible evidence, within the limits of the Confrontation Clause.^[16][17]