Jones v. State

The trial of any case is fraught with traditional incidents the uninitiated may regard as “ritual and special incantation.” That is because our judicial system is rooted in the Common Law of England, which in turn is a body of principles and rules of action derived from usages and customs of immemorial antiquity recognized, affirmed and enforced by its courts.

Judicial power is that which adjudicates and protects rights and interests of citizens according to law; it is the power to determine contested factual issues, to apply the law, to decide legal results of the controversy and to pronounce…