In Kentucky's two-tiered trial system, the first trial is a non-jury trial.
Four Associate Judges deal with pre-trial motions and non-jury trials.
He was convicted in a non-jury trial.
In a non-jury trial the fact-finder is one or more professional judges rather than a jury of the defendant's 'peers'.
Lay was also convicted in a separate non-jury trial of bank fraud and making false statements to banks, charges related to his personal finances.
The case was then heard in a non-jury trial.
It did not take issue with non-jury trials, suggesting that the same practice might be used in more types of cases for greater efficiency.
One part of the strategy was to proceed with a non-jury trial, leaving the decision only to the judge.
Later in a non-jury trial in January, 2010, Baldwin was found not guilty on all charges.
In a non-jury trial, the judge sits both as a fact-finder and as the trier of law.