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In a bench trial, the judge must determine the facts (what really happened, as distinguished from what
the plaintiff alleged happened) and then apply the law to the facts. In a jury trial, the fact-finding function
belongs to the jury. For example, in a negligence action for damages tried before a jury, the judge would decide whether state law imposes a legal duty on a host to warn guests of hidden dangers on his or her
property. It would be for the jury to decide whether a loose step on the host's back porch was such a
danger, whether the guest had in fact been warned not to go onto the back porch, whether that warning
was sufficient under the law, whether the guest's alleged injuries were real, and whether they were actually
caused by a fall off the step.