Chapter 1: An Introduction to Criminal Procedure Flashcards
Substantive Criminal Law
Defines the factual elements of a criminal offense.
E.g. proving the criminal intent and criminal act that resulted in harm, beyond a reasonable doubt.
Criminal Procedure
Outlines procedure of arrest, investigation, detection of crime, and prosecution of criminal offense.
Allows police officers conduct arrest, interrogations, and lineups.
Define the balance between ‘Security’ and ‘Rights’
For e.g., the requirement that police officers, in most situations, obtain a warrant to search a home protects individuals from law enforcement searching their homes based on a “hunch” or “intuition” of crime.
At the same time, if there are too many legal barriers in the criminal justice system, that frustrates the process of making arrests and convictions.
The United State’s criminal justice system tries to balance the rights of privacy and liberty from intrusion of citizens, while also pursuing arrest and convictions of those guilty of crimes (to execute justice).
Besides balancing security and rights, the justice system has other aims/goals to maintain:
- Accuracy: It’s simple. The ___________ should be protected, and the ___________ should be punished.
- Efficiency: Justice system should process cases within a ___________ frame of __________ so that justice isn’t ________, and so that ___________ don’t have a potential prosecution looming over their head.
- Respect: The ____________ of __________ and __________ should be respected.
- Fairness: People looking at our system should see the system as __________.
- Equality: The _____________ quality of ___________ should be provided for the _________ and _________ alike, as well as all various __________ / ____________ groups.
- Adversarial: Defendant’s should have the right to a __________ attorney for crucial points during the criminal justice process.
- Participation: ____________ should participate in our criminal justice process as _____________.
- Appeals: ______________ freedoms should not depend solely on a _________ or _________. Defendants should have the right to ___________ their case to ensure there were no legal ____________ in the lower court.
- Justice: The aforementioned goals together helps to ensure justice for the _____________ and ____________, and ensure a _______ society.
- innocent; guilty
- reasonable; time; delayed; suspects
- dignity; defendants; victims
- fair
- same; justice; rich; poor; ethnic; racial
- defense
- citizens; jurors
- individual; judge; jury; appeal; errors
- defendants; victims; just
The Criminal Justice Process:
Criminal Investigation
- Police have to determine…
1) whether or not there was a crime
2) who committed the crime. - Police are free to take information from witnesses and informants.
- Police are also free to arrest alleged offenders.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Arrest
- Once police have determined that 1) a crime has been committed, and 2) there is probable cause to believe a suspect committed the crime, they can arrest the suspect and take him into custody.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Post-arrest
- Post-arrest begins with the booking stage.
- Suspects are brought into the police station, and their information is documented (i.e. name, height, hair color, race, profile, photograph, fingerprints).
The Criminal Justice Process:
Post-arrest Investigation
- Law enforcement is free to continue investigative work to discover evidence that suggest the suspect is guilty of the crime.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Criminal Charge
- There are several stages to to the Criminal Charging.
- Prosecutor may opt to not formally charge defendant.
- If prosecutor formally charges defendant, then he submits complaint document, detailing the crimes charged against defendant, and what specifically the defendant did during crime that’s being charged.
- Suspect will have First Appearance before magistrate (lawyer) where he’s informed of crimes charged against him and his right to silence and legal counsel.
- Btw, if defendant is indigent, then attorney is given to him freely.
- Gerstein Hearing is held if police arrested defendant w/o warrant–they have to inform magistrate of their probable cause behind arresting him. (if they obtained warrant from judicial official before arrest, then no Gerstein hearing).
The Criminal Justice Process:
Pretrial
Next…Preliminary Hearings
- Prosecutor will present witnesses and evidence proving probable cause to believe defendant is guilty.
- Defense is free to cross-examine prosecution’s witnesses.
- Defense may also submit a motion for discovery: forcing prosecution to hand over all evidence/information they’re using (i.e. names of witnesses, results of physical examinations & scientific tests).
- (Also reciprocal discovery)
- In states, if probable cause is found during preliminary hearing, prosecutor will submit document of information.
- Information: document charging defendant of crimes (in absence of indictment).
- In federal system, preliminary hearings are carried over into grand jury. If grand jury finds probable cause, defendant is indicted (true bill), and prosecution issues document of indictment.
- Indictment: accusation of guilty by grand jury.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Pretrial
What is a motion of Nolle Proesqui?
If the prosecution no longer wishes to pursue the indictment initiated by the complaint document, they can file for a motion of Nolle Proesqui (we shall no longer prosecute).
The Criminal Justice Process:
Pre-Trial Motions
Motion for Dismissal of Charges
request to dismiss charges against defendant on the grounds that…
1) defendant was already prosecuted.
2) defendant did not receive fair or speedy trial.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Pre-Trial Motions
Motion for Change in Venue
Request to change location of trial based on certain circumstances (i.e. publicity, bias by jury, etc…)
The Criminal Justice Process:
Pre-Trial Motions
Motion to Suppress
Request by defense to limit admissibility of illegally obtained evidence – fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Trial
- Defendant may receive trial by jury for serious offenses and misdemeanors.
- This right to trial may be waived if the defendant pleads guilty, or if defendant request trial standing before judge.
- Most states require unanimous verdicts, but U.S. Const. allow non-unanimous verdicts.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Sentencing
- After trial, there will be a sentencing hearing.
- Judge has discretion to impose fines, incarceration, probation, etc.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Appeal
Defendant is free to appeal case if they believe error was made in trial court.
State Supreme and U.S. Supreme Court usually get first dibs on second appeals.
The Criminal Justice Process:
Post Conviction
If defendant exhausts all appeals, and his conviction is upheld, he may submit writ of habeas corpus suggesting appellate court judgement was wrong (they didn’t find the legal error).
Writ of Habeas Corpus
Document filed only by incarcerated persons, challenging lawfulness of their detention.
Common Law
Judge-made law brought from England to the United States.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Rules of criminal procedure drafted by federal judges approved by Congress.
Model Code
Pre-Arraignment Code written by lawyers, judges, and law enforcement regulating the standards for what an interaction between a police officer and citizen should be like prior to a formal arrest.
Concurrent Jurisdiction
When state and federal govt. exercise authority over the same case / area of law.
Misdemeanors
Crimes punishable by less than 1 year in prison.
Felonies
Crimes punishable by more than 1 year in prison.
Federal Court Hierarchy
District Court → Court of Appeals → Supreme Court
How many federal District Courts are there in the U.S.?
94
How Many federal Circuit Courts are there in the U.S.?
13
(11 for the states)
(1 for Columbia: hears appeals from federal agencies)
(1 for Washington D.C.: has exclusive right to hear cases regarding patents and copyrights, etc.)
How Many U.S. Supreme Courts
1
How many judges are usually empaneled in a Circuit Court of Appeals?
3, normally
(depending on the state, the number of judges on a circuit court panel varies).
How many justices are empaneled in the U.S. Supreme Court?
9
(1 Chief Justice)
(8 Associate Justices)
Two ways a case gets to the Supreme Court:
(1) Original Jurisdiction
(2) Writ of Certiorari
Original Jurisdiction
Having the right to hear/preside over a case first.
Writ of Certiorari
Appeal from litigant who lost in lower court, appealing their case to Supreme Court.
litigant is granted certiorari under the rule of four.
Rule of Four
If 4/9 justices agree to hear the appeal, then the Court will hear the case.
What kind of cases does the U.S. Supreme Court have original jurisdiction over?
Cases involving…
- Federal v. State
- State v. State
- Foreign ministers / ambassadors
En Banc
French: “on the bench”
Latin: “the entire court”
When a court sits ‘en banc’ it means, not just one but, the entire court hears/presides over case.
Precedent
Legally binding prior case rulings that serve as a model to all lower courts with similar case facts.
Precedent from the Supreme Court is binding on all lower federal and state courts in regards to interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.
Stare Decisis
Latin: “let the decision stand.”
When faced with similar case facts as prior legal precedent, the current ruling should conform to the reasoning of the legal precedent.
Case Brief
Written arguments from each party of a case.
Each party must submit a case brief to the Supreme Court before the hearing.
Appellant
The party that files an appeal from lower court.
Apellee
The party against whom the appeal is filed.
Collateral Attack
Constitutional challenge after having been convicted, incarcerated, and having exhausted all state appeals.
Petitioner
Party that files a collateral attack.
Respondent
Party against whom the collateral attack is filed.
Majority Opinion
When more than half of the court agrees on an opinion.
Concurring Opinions.
When justices agree with the outcome, but hold different reasons as to why they agree with the outcome.
Plurality Opinion
When the majority of the Court agrees with a prevailing opinion, but there are not enough justices who joined the majority opinion who constitute a majority.
Ex. 5/9 agree with the prevailing opinion, but 1 of the 5 writes a concurring opinion. 4/9 is not enough to constitute a majority.
Dissenting Opinion
Less than half of the disagrees with the majority opinion.
Per Curiam Opinion
When the entire court agrees on an opinion, but the author that drafted the opinion is not identified.
State Court Hierarchy
Trial → Appellate Court→ State Supreme Court → Supreme Court
Courts of Original Jurisdiction
Courts that have the authority to hear a case first.
Criminal prosecutions may originate in either of the 2 courts…
(1) Courts of General Jurisdiction.
(2) Courts of Limited Jurisdiction.
Courts of Limited Jurisdiction
Courts that hear/preside over a narrow scope of cases.
Courts that deal with minor offenses, misdemeanors, and only a few amount of felonies.
Bench Trial
Cases where jury presides over case without jury.
Courts of General Jurisdiction
Courts that hear/preside over a broad scope of cases.
These courts deal with more serious criminal offenses.
Many of the cases handled by courts of _____________ jurisdiction fall within the control of courts of ______________ jurisdiction.
limited; general
Trial de Novo
When a case from a court of general jurisdiction is retried in a court of limited jurisdiction using the same legal arguments, and evidence.
Intermediate Appellate Courts
Courts between municipal courts and U.S. Supreme Courts.
Municipal Courts: courts of general jurisdiction
The intermediate court of appeals serves as a filter from courts with general jurisdiction, to courts with limited, to the Supreme Court.
Discretionary Appeal
An appeal to which an appellate court has the discretion to review or not review.
In States without intermediate appellate courts, litigants from trial courts are allowed to ____________ ____________ to the __________ __________ _________.
directly appeal; State Supreme Court
First Impression
When a court faces a certain issue for the first time.
No legal precedent.
Persuasive Authority
decisions in cases made by other courts that other courts can consult when making decisions of their own.
Binding Authority
Decisions that are legally binding on lower courts
Ex. Precedent stemming from SCOTUS is legally binding to all lower federal courts and state courts on matters on interpretation of the Constitution.
Originialist
When someone views the Constitution (it’s provisions) they way the framers intended.
Contextualism
Describes those who believe the Constitution is a living document that changes as society needs it.
Judicial Activism
Belief that the court should take an active role in shaping public policy and combating social problems.
Judicial Restraint
Belief that the court should be hands off in setting policy, and leave that responsibility to elected officials.
