John 18:28-40; John 19:1-11

Jesus has been arrested and He's going through the legal system.
28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. The high priest at that time had a dual role as modified by the Romans who did what they wanted to do, not what God wanted them to do. Passover is about to start as they were leading Christ to the courtroom. They had to be done by 6 p.m. so it was probably 6 a.m. when they started this process. They are leading Him to the judgment hall. This was an area where Pilate would move to Jerusalem and bring his soldiers with him to keep down the riots in Jerusalem because they had lots of problems. This area is an open area inside a gate, like an open courtyard. The jews considered this area to be defiled if you walked into it. The Jews took Christ to the gate and left Him there, but they wouldn't enter the judgment area of the Romans because it was considered a sin and they wanted to partake of Passover later that evening.
29 Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? Pilate had to walk in and out to talk with the Jews and find out what the problem was with Jesus.
30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. The Jews said, just take Jesus and do what you want with Him. He wouldn't be here if He wasn't a criminal. Jews didn't have the power of capitol punishment, but the Romans did.
31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore ....