chapter 8 vocab Flashcards
Initial Appearance
an accused first appearance before a judge or magistrate following arrest
During the initial appearance the defendant is informed of
1the charges that have been brought against him or her
2 constitutional rights are explained—particularly, the right to remain silent (under the Fifth Amendment)
3 the right to be represented by counsel (under the Sixth Amendment).
Preventive Detention
the retention of an accused person in custody due to fears that she or he will commit a crime if released before trial
Bail
The dollar amount or conditions set by the court to ensure that an individual accused of a crime will appear for further criminal proceedings.
Bail is provided under the
the Eighth Amendment.
the admendement does not guarantee the right to bail instead it states that excessive bail shal not be required
Release on Recognizance (ROR)
A judge’s order that releases an accused from jail with the understanding that he or she will return of his or her own will for further proceedings.
Property Bond:
Property provided to the court by the defendant as an assurance that he or she will return for trial; an alternative to cash bail.
Bail Bond Agent:
a businessperson who agrees for a fee, to pay the bail amount if the accused fails to appear in court as ordered
How Does a Prosecutor Link a Defendant to a Crime?
establish probable cause.
The Preliminary Hearing Process
////
The preliminary hearing is conducted in the manner of a minitial
police report of the arrest is presented by a law enforcement officer, supplemented with evidence provided by the prosecutor.
During this hearing, the defendant has a right to be represented by counsel, who may cross-examine witnesses and challenge any evidence offered by the prosecutor.
The Grand Jury determines
Determines whether the evidence presented by the prosecution is sufficient to provide probable cause that a crime occurred.
If a majority of the jurors find sufficient evidence
the grand jury will issue an indictment.
Arraignment
A court proceeding in which the suspect is formally charged with the criminal offense stated in the indictment.
Nolo Contendere
Latin For “ I will not consent”
alford plea
defendant is pleading guilty but claims his or hers innocence
Motivations for Plea Bargains
plea bargening
The process by which the accused and the prosecutor work out a mutually satisfactory conclusion to the case, subject to court approval.
Motivations for Plea Bargains
defense attorney
Often favorable terms that are seen as the best that can be done for client.
Motivations for Plea Bargains
Defendants
Allows the defendant a measure of control over his or her fate.
Motivations for Plea Bargains
Prosecutor
A win/conviction
Pleading Not Guilty
Generally, a not guilty plea in the face of strong evidence is part of a strategy to do one of the following:
- Gain a more favorable plea bargain.
- Challenge a crucial part of the evidence on constitutional grounds.
- submit one of the justifications/excuses defense
Statute of Limitations:
A law limiting the amount of time prosecutors have to bring criminal charges against a suspect after the crime has occurred.
Jury Trial:
a trial before a judge and a jury
Bench Trial:
A trial conducted without a jury, in which a judge makes the determination of the defendant’s guilt or innocence.
Acquittal:
A declaration following a trial that the individual accused of the crime is innocent in the eyes of the law and thus is absolved from the charges.
Special Features of a Trial
///
Assumption of innocence Beyond a reasonable doubt 6th Amendment: right to attorney Right to speedy trial Right to be judged by impartial jury Confrontation Clause 5th Amendment: Privilege against self-incrimination Double jeopardy Due process
How is a Jury Selected?
- Citizens of the United States.
- Eighteen years of age or older.
- Free of felony convictions.
- Healthy enough to function in a jury setting.
- Sufficiently intelligent to understand the issues of a trial.
- Able to read, write, and comprehend the English language
Master Jury List:
The list of citizens in a court’s district from which a jury can be selected; compiled from voter-registration lists, driver’s license lists, and other sources.
Venire
the group of clients from which the jury is selected
Voir Dire:
The preliminary questions that the trial attorneys ask prospective jurors to determine whether they are biased or have any connection with the defendant or a witness.
Challenge for Cause
A voir dire challenge for which an attorney states the reason why a prospective juror should not be included on the jury
Peremptory Challenges:
(limiited) voir dire challenges to exclude potential jurors from serving on the jury without any supporting reason or cause
Opening Statements:
The attorneys’ statements to the jury at the beginning of the trial.
In these opening statements, the attorneys give a brief version of the facts and the supporting evidence that they will present during the trial.
Evidence
anything that is used to prove the existence of nonexistence of a fact
Testimony
Verbal evidence given by witness under oath
Relevant Evidence:
Evidence tending to make a fact in question more or less probable than it would be without the evidence.
Real Evidence:
evidence that is brought into court and seen by the jury, as opposed to evidence that is described for a jury
Exculpatory Evidence:
Evidence that tends to excuse, justify, or absolve the alleged fault or guilt of a defendant.
Prejudicial Evidence:
Evidence may be excluded if it would tend to distract the jury from the main issues of the case, mislead the jury, or cause jurors to decide the issue on an emotional basis.
The corpus delicti:
a legal term that refers to substantial facts that show a crime has been committed
The Prosecution’s Case
The prosecutor attempts to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt by presenting the corpus delicti of the crime to the jury.
Direct Examination of Witnesses
The prosecutor will call witnesses to the stand and ask them questions pertaining to the sequence of events that the trial is addressing.
During direct examination,
the prosecutor will usually not be allowed to ask leading questions.
Leading Question:
one that leads witness to an answer, by either suggesting the answer or by substituting the words of the questioning attorney for those of the witness
Competence and Reliability of Witnesses
///
Witnesses must have sufficient mental competence to understand the significance of testifying under oath.
They must also be reliable in the sense that they are able to give a clear and reliable description of the events in question.
Cross-Examination is
the questioning of an opposing witness during trial.
cross ecamination gives the accused?
This confrontation clause contained in the Sixth Amendment gives the accused, through his or her attorneys, the right to cross-examine witnesses.
Rebuttal
After the defense closes its case, the prosecution is permitted to bring new evidence forward that was not used during its initial presentation to the jury.
Surrebuttal
The defense is given the opportunity to cross-examine the prosecution’s new witnesses and introduce new witnesses of its own.
Rebuttal Evidence:
evidence given to counteract given to disprove the evidence presented by the opposing party
Closing Arguments:
Arguments made by each side’s attorney after the cases for the plaintiff and defendant have been presented.
In their closing arguments
the attorneys summarize their presentations and argue one final time for their respective cases.
What Happens at the End of a Criminal Trial?
Jury instructions are usually prepared during a special charging conference involving the judge and the trial attorneys.
Jury Deliberation slide 30
One of the most important instructions that a judge normally gives the jurors is that they should seek no outside information during deliberation.
The most common Verdict
The most common verdicts are guilty and not guilty.
Hung jury
when a jury in a criminal trial is unable to agree on a unamimous verdict or a majority in certain states it returns withno decision
in extreme cases the judge will order that the jury be
sequestered or isolated from the public during the trial and deliberated stages of the proceeding
Allen Charge:
If there are only a few dissenters to the majority view, a judge can send the jury back to the jury room under a set of rules set forth by the Supreme Court in Allen v. United States (1896).
Appeals
An appeal is the process of seeking a higher court’s review of a lower court’s decision for the purpose of correcting or changing the lower court’s judgment.
A defendant who loses a case in a trial court cannot
automatically appeal the conviction.
The defendant normally must first be able to
show that the trial court acted improperly on a question of law.
But what if a defendant who is factually innocent has been found guilty at trial?
For the most part, such wrongful convictions can be righted only with the aid of new evidence suggesting that the defendant was not, in fact, guilty.
The five most common reasons for wrongful convictions eventually overturned by DNA evidence are
- Eyewitness misidentification
- False confessions
- Faulty forensic evidence
- False informant testimony
- Law enforcement misconduct
There are several circumstances in which, for practical purposes, a defendant can find herself or himself back in court after a jury has failed to find her or him guilty of committing a particular crime:
////
One state’s prosecution will not prevent a different state or the federal government from prosecuting the same crime.
Acquitted defendants can be sued in civil court.
A hung jury is not an acquittal for purposes of double jeopardy.
Habeas corpus is a
a judicial order that commands a corrections official to bring a prisoner before a federal court so that the court can hear the convict’s claim that he or she is being held illegally.
A writ of habeas corpus is used
to bring a prisoner or other detainee (e.g. institutionalized mental patient) before the court to determine if the person’s imprisonment or detention is lawful.
