Typically, the Defense notifies the Court of their intent to rest. The Court typically notifies the Defense that it will ask the defendant if he wants to testify on his own behalf or not.
Never, ever have I seen a judge interrogate a criminal defendant (before the Defense is finished presenting its case) about whether or not he has made a decision and how much more time he needs to make said decision. Simply unheard of in my experience.
IANAL, however, it seems to me that Judge Nelson denied GZ his constitutional right to legal counsel during that interrogation because she overruled West’s objections and seemingly forced GZ to answer her without consulting his attorneys.
The State intended to call three rebuttal witnesses. They improperly called one with the intent to impeach, which is not allowed on rebuttal. Nelson sustained the Defense’s objection. Then the State declined to call anymore rebuttal witnesses.
So is sequestration over — can the witnesses watch tv again and talk about the case or do they still have to wait???
Wow. Thanks!
I'm not one of those either, but I have to say, Props and Kudos to George, he hanged tough when the "judge" pulled a surprise move! He refused to answer, in the face of an angry "judge!" One of his lawyers must have told him, "Don't ever answer the court with a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Ever. In the name of all things holy. Just don't."