Idaho Code
Idaho Code

Idaho Code § 19-2101 (2026)

Order of trial. 

✓ current as of May 2026
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Order of trial. 

The jury having been impaneled and sworn, the trial must proceed in the following order:

1.  If the indictment is for a felony, the clerk must read it and state the plea of the defendant to the jury. In all other cases this formality may be dispensed with.
2.  The prosecuting attorney or other counsel for the people must open the cause and offer the evidence in support of the indictment.
3.  The defendant or his counsel may then open the defense and offer his evidence in support thereof.
4.  The parties may then respectively offer rebutting testimony only, unless the court for good reason, in furtherance of justice, permit them to offer evidence upon their original case.
5.  When the evidence is concluded, unless the case is submitted to the jury on either side, or on both sides, without argument, the prosecuting attorney or other counsel for the people must open, and the prosecuting attorney may conclude, the argument.
6.  The judge must then charge the jury if requested by either party; he may state the testimony and declare the law, but must not charge the jury in respect to matters of fact; such charge must be reduced to writing before it is given, unless by the mutual consent of the parties it is given orally.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases, 1953–2003 · leading case: State v. Olsen, 647 P.2d 734 (Idaho 1982).
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State v. Olsen, 647 P.2d 734 (Idaho 1982). · cites it 8× “In all other cases this formality may be dispensed with. 2. The prosecuting attorney or other counsel for the people must open the cause and offer the evidence in support of the indictment.”
State v. Sharp, 616 P.2d 1034 (Idaho 1980). · cites it 4× “) Defense counsel moved to excise the above italicized language, arguing that such language could give a jury the impression that a magistrate had already found him guilty of the crime charged, thus violating his right to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of…”
State v. Roy, 899 P.2d 441 (Idaho 1995). · cites it 6× “This part was, pursuant to I.C. § 19-2101, read to the jury at the beginning of the trial.”
State v. McLeskey, 69 P.3d 111 (Idaho 2003). · cites it 3× “Idaho Code § 19-2101 , which was enacted in 1864, sets forth the order of a criminal trial.”
State v. Gish, 393 P.2d 342 (Idaho 1964). · cites it 4× “” I.C. § 19-2101 provides for the procedure to be followed during trial, and after fixing the time when the defendant may offer evidence in support of his defense subsection 4 thereof provides: “4.”
State v. Nesbitt, 310 P.2d 787 (Idaho 1957). · cites it 4× “" The court therefore erred in failing to give appellant's requested jury instruction No.”
State v. Anspaugh, 547 P.2d 1124 (Idaho 1976). · cites it 4× “According to defendant the tape was unnecessary, cumulative evidence of the state’s case in chief.”
State v. Anstine, 418 P.2d 210 (Idaho 1966). · cites it 2× “I.C. § 19-2101(1) requires the clerk at the outset of the trial to read the information to the jury and announce the defendant’s plea.”
State v. Orr, 844 P.2d 684 (Idaho 1992). · cites it 2× “Orr’s appeal asserts the following claims of error: (1) that the enhancement provision of using a firearm was not raised before the magistrate at the preliminary hearing; (2) that the trial court violated I.C. § 19-2101(1) by failure to read the information and the defendant’s…”
State v. Powaukee, 300 P.2d 488 (Idaho 1956). · cites it 2× “Appellant maintains that this case requires an answer to the question, as appellant propounds it to be: If a member of the Nez Percé Indian tribe hunts and takes possession of a deer on privately owned land which never was within the boundaries of the original tract reserved to…”
State v. Hewitt, 254 P.2d 677 (Idaho 1953). “It is urged that the State through the testimony of the officers of Ogden, Utah, proved that appellant came into possession of recently stolen property innocently; appellant insists that the State is bound by such evidence explaining his possession; furthermore, that if not…”
— Idaho Code § 19-2101(1) — 2 cases
State v. Anstine, 418 P.2d 210 (Idaho 1966). “I.C. § 19-2101(1) requires the clerk at the outset of the trial to read the information to the jury and announce the defendant’s plea.”
State v. Orr, 844 P.2d 684 (Idaho 1992). “Orr’s appeal asserts the following claims of error: (1) that the enhancement provision of using a firearm was not raised before the magistrate at the preliminary hearing; (2) that the trial court violated I.C. § 19-2101(1) by failure to read the information and the defendant’s…”
— Idaho Code § 19-2101(4) — 1 case
State v. Hewitt, 254 P.2d 677 (Idaho 1953). “It is urged that the State through the testimony of the officers of Ogden, Utah, proved that appellant came into possession of recently stolen property innocently; appellant insists that the State is bound by such evidence explaining his possession; furthermore, that if not…”
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