There is no fixed legal maximum for how long a court trial can last. Most trials wrap up in a few days to a couple of weeks, complex cases run for months, and the record-holder, the McMartin Preschool criminal trial, ran 919 days between 1987 and 1990. In federal criminal cases, the Speedy Trial Act requires trial to begin within 70 days of indictment, though routine exceptions stretch that clock. Civil cases have no equivalent deadline, and the median federal civil case takes 35.6 months from filing to the trial’s conclusion.1Congress.gov. Expediting Cases and Setting Deadlines for Court Actions
Typical Trial Lengths by Case Type
The length of a trial depends first on what kind of case it is.
- Simple misdemeanors often finish in a single day.
- Homicide trials typically last one to three weeks.
- Federal racketeering, securities fraud, or multi-defendant prosecutions can run for months.
- Civil jury trials that actually reach a courtroom often last several days to a few weeks, with product liability and medical malpractice cases running longest because of the expert testimony involved. Motor vehicle accident trials are typically among the shortest.
Jury trials run longer than bench trials, where a judge decides the case alone. Jury selection adds anywhere from a few hours to several weeks. Attorneys also pace evidence differently for juries, using more visual aids and slower explanations. Deliberation has no time limit: juries have returned verdicts in under an hour and have deliberated for weeks.
What Makes One Trial Longer Than Another
Case complexity is the single biggest driver. A straightforward misdemeanor with one defendant can finish in a day. A fraud prosecution with years of financial records, wiretap evidence, and cooperating witnesses can consume months of courtroom time.
Witness count matters more than people expect. Every witness goes through direct examination by the side that called them, then cross-examination by the opposing attorney. Expert witnesses take even longer because their qualifications have to be established before their opinions come in. A trial with five witnesses might take two days; a trial with fifty can last weeks just on testimony.
Pretrial motions add weeks or months before a jury is even seated. Requests to suppress evidence, dismiss charges, or sever defendants each require their own hearings and rulings, and federal courts must resolve most pretrial motions before trial begins.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 12 – Pleadings and Pretrial Motions
Scheduling is the quieter drag. Judges run crowded dockets, attorneys juggle other cases, witnesses get sick, and courtrooms are not always available. Individual postponements are small. They compound quickly.
Where the Time Goes Inside a Trial
Jury Selection
A trial begins with voir dire. The judge and attorneys question potential jurors about their backgrounds and biases. Each side can challenge jurors “for cause” and also has a limited number of peremptory challenges to remove jurors without giving a reason.3United States Courts. Juror Selection Process Routine cases finish selection in a few hours. Death penalty cases and trials with heavy media coverage can take weeks.
Opening Statements and Evidence
Once the jury is seated, attorneys deliver opening statements previewing what they expect to prove. The side with the burden of proof goes first. Then comes evidence, almost always the longest phase. The prosecution or plaintiff calls witnesses first, each subject to cross-examination. Physical evidence, documents, and recordings must be formally introduced and authenticated before the jury can consider them.4United States District Court Eastern District of Oklahoma. Summary of Trial Process
Closing Arguments and Deliberation
After both sides rest, attorneys give closing arguments. The judge instructs the jury on the applicable law, and the jury retires to deliberate in private. Deliberation is the hardest stage to predict. Cases with multiple charges or multiple defendants require separate decisions on each count, which takes longer. No rule requires a jury to finish within any particular timeframe.
Speedy Trial Deadlines in Criminal Cases
Federal criminal defendants have two overlapping protections against delay. The Sixth Amendment guarantees “the right to a speedy and public trial.”5Legal Information Institute. Sixth Amendment That is a flexible standard. Courts weigh four factors set by the Supreme Court: how long the delay lasted, the reason for it, whether the defendant asked for a faster trial, and whether the delay actually harmed the defense.6Justia Law. Barker v Wingo, 407 US 514 (1972)
The Speedy Trial Act adds hard numbers. The government must file an indictment or information within 30 days of arrest, and trial must begin within 70 days of the later of the indictment or the defendant’s first appearance before a judge.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3161 – Time Limits and Exclusions
In practice, the 70 days is often a fiction. The statute excludes large stretches of time from the count: delays from pretrial motions, mental competency evaluations, trials on other charges, interlocutory appeals, and periods when the defendant or a key witness is unavailable. In complex multi-defendant cases, those exclusions can push the real timeline past a year.
If the government misses the deadline, the remedy is dismissal, but the judge decides whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice. Courts weigh the seriousness of the offense, the circumstances of the delay, and the effect on justice. Serious felonies are more likely to be dismissed without prejudice, letting the prosecution refile.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3162 – Sanctions
State courts have their own speedy trial rules, and the timelines vary. A defendant typically must raise the objection before trial or lose the right to complain about the delay later.
Why Civil Trials Take So Much Longer
Civil litigants have no constitutional right to a speedy trial. That single difference explains why civil cases routinely take years to reach a courtroom. The timeline is set by judicial case management, not statutory deadlines. Federal judges issue scheduling orders early in a case, fixing dates for joining parties, completing discovery, filing motions, and going to trial, and those orders can be changed only for good cause.9Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 16 – Pretrial Conferences, Scheduling, Management
Discovery is the main reason for the long runway. Both sides exchange documents, take depositions, and hire experts, and none of that happens in front of a jury. Discovery alone can take a year or more in a complicated commercial dispute. Discovery disputes, amended complaints, new expert reports, and settlement talks all push trial dates back. The result is the 35.6-month federal median from filing to trial’s conclusion, and state courts in some jurisdictions run slower still.
Mistrials and Starting Over
A mistrial can erase weeks of work and force the process to restart. Judges declare mistrials when continuing would undermine fairness, a standard called “manifest necessity.” Common triggers include a jury that cannot reach a verdict, serious juror misconduct, and procedural errors too significant to fix with a jury instruction.
Whether the prosecution can retry the case depends on how the mistrial happened. When a jury cannot agree (a hung jury), the prosecution can retry. The same is true when the defendant requests the mistrial. A retrial is barred only in narrow circumstances, mainly when the government deliberately provoked the mistrial request.10Constitution Annotated. Amdt5.3.4 Re-Prosecution After Mistrial Federal criminal trials end in a hung jury about 2 to 3 percent of the time. When one happens, a two-week trial can end up consuming months of total courtroom time across multiple proceedings.
What Happens After the Verdict
The trial does not always end when the jury reads its verdict. Either side can file post-trial motions. In federal civil cases, a motion for judgment as a matter of law or a motion for a new trial must be filed within 28 days of the judgment.11Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 50 – Judgment as a Matter of Law in a Jury Trial These motions can take weeks or months to resolve, and if granted, they may send the case back for a new trial.
Appeals add more time. A federal criminal defendant typically has 14 days after sentencing to file a notice of appeal; civil parties have 30 days after final judgment. The appeal itself can take a year or more to brief, argue, and decide. If the appellate court orders a new trial, the clock resets. That is how cases that looked routine at filing can still be in the system five or ten years later.