{"data":{"id":"us-mn/minn.-stat.-546.11","jurisdiction":"us-mn","citation":"Minn. Stat. § 546.11","heading":"ORDER OF TRIAL.","body":"In a civil case when the jury is completed and sworn, the trial shall proceed in the following order, unless for special reasons the court shall otherwise direct:\n(1) the plaintiff, after stating the issue, shall produce the plaintiff's evidence;\n(2) the defendant may then open the defense, and produce evidence in support thereof;\n(3) the parties may then respectively offer rebutting evidence only, unless the court, in furtherance of justice, shall permit either to introduce evidence upon each's original case;\n(4) when the evidence is concluded, unless the case be submitted by one side or both without argument, the defendant shall open and the plaintiff close the argument to the jury; provided, that if the defendant have the affirmative of the issue to be tried the foregoing order of trial shall be reversed;\n(5) if several defendants, having separate defenses, appear by different counsel, the court shall determine their relative order in respect to both evidence and argument;\n(6) when the argument is closed the court may charge the jury.","path":["CIVIL PROCEDURE","CHAPTER 546. TRIALS"],"source_url":"https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/546.11","current_through":"2025 Minnesota Statutes","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-02T22:10:49Z","sha256":"d5756f574a7ef8ae6dd12c4f9eb3061ba51e0585b0c9ebe2673abd1bcaabe3e8","source_id":"us-mn","stale":false,"prev":"us-mn/minn.-stat.-546.10","next":"us-mn/minn.-stat.-546.12"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}