Chapter 2: Legal Environment Flashcards
Court System
Sources of Law
-US Constitution, Statutes, Cases, Administrative
Civil and Criminal Procedures
-The legal system and Jurisdiction
Players in Investigative and Legal Cases
- Prosecutor our District Attorney
- Courts
- Law Enforcement
- Attorneys
Work Papers
Document with notes that an accountant maintains as part of a client engagement.
Chain of Custody
Careful record that accounts for custody of evidence between the time of its collection and its presentation at trial.
Fraud Triangle
Three things generally present in most crimes: pressure, opportunity, and rationalization.
The Trial Process
(key concepts: bench vs. jury trials, double jeopardy, rules of evidence)
Search Warrants
Court order that premits law enforcement authorities to search for and seize evidence.
Grand Juries
A group of citizens called to meet , generally in secret, to investigate whether criminal charges should be filed against and individuals empowered to subpoena documents and require testimony; sometimes investigates matter of general public interest. In the federal system, felony charges can be brought only visa grand jury incident.
Probably Cause
Represents what might be reasonable basis to believe that a suspect might have committed a crime; a much lower standard then “beyond a reasonable doubt” and that can be based on things that could seem dubious, such as an anonymous top.
Citations
Alternative to an arrest procedure in which a law enforcement agent gives an accused a written document that indicates the charges.
Common Law Financial Crime
Larceny, Burglary, Conspiracy, Embezzlement, Fraud, Robbery, Extortion, Arson, Solicitation, Aiding and Abetting.
Booking
Procedure in which an arrest record is created and for which law enforcement takes the accused persons fingerprints and photograph.
Burglary
Unlawfully entering any building or structure with the intent of committing a crime.
Conspiracy
Two or more people agree to commit a crime with common intent and then act on that intent.
Embezzlement
Must first have lawful possession
Fraud
False Pretenses
Robbery
Force or Threat of Force in Presence of Victim
Extortion
Threat of future force
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
Legal doctrine that excludes from evidence anything obtained as a result of improperly obtained evidence.
The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002
A complex US congressional act that added and changed many laws aimed mainly at preventing and punishing various types of financial statement fraud among public companies.
Double jepardy
Process of being tried for the same crime twice, which is nor permitted under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, although individuals may be tried separately in state and federal courts for the same crime. Once the jury is seated in a jury trial or when the first witness takes the stand in a tech trial, the criminal defendant is said to be in jepardy, and after that point, the defendant cannot be retried for the same crime if there is a verdict of not guilty or the judge dismiss the case.
Expert Witnesses
Individual so qualified to be permitted to give opinions in court.
Discovery
General change of information and evidence between prosecutors and defendants.
Motions in limine
Defendants can ask the judge to exclude anticipated evidence from trial.
Voir dire
attorneys or the judge potential jurors questions about their attitudes and backgrounds and many automatically exclude some juniors using “peremptory challenges”
Hearsay Statement
Which is a witness statement that may buffered into evidence for its own truth.
Exceptions to Hearsay
Dying declarations, excited utterances, defendant admissions, statements that show someone’s state of mind, written government and business records, and prior inconsistent statements.
opening statement
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