Court Procedures Flashcards
Police actions that can prompt courtroom testimony
On site of felony/ misdemeanor (criminal infractions)
911 calls -> BPD operations dispatching of police units to incidents
A police units radio transmission or BWC footage and its links to the courtroom process
Arriagnment procedures and process
Charge
Arraignment - 1st appear before a judge
Bail (written promise to appear): judge or magistrate decide release before scheduled court date
Bail criteria: type of crime, criminal record, damaged to the community, residency status, employment status, potential penalty for crime, risk of flight/default history, financial resources (unless flight risk)
Criminal procedures: Pre-Trial
Arraignment - reading of charges and determining whether the defendant would like to do enter a guilty or not guilty.
Discovery - exchange of case info/evidence between prosecution and defense
Motion to suppress- hearing where officers frequently testify. (Officer actions or evidence challenged)
Plea agreement or go to trial (CWOF)
Majority of cases resolved prior to trial
Motion to suppress
In MA criminal case, can be a powerful legal strategy
Allows defendants to challenge the admissibility of certain evidence on grounds of constitutional violations
- 4th amendment: physical evidence and persons
- 5th amendment: testimonial evidence
Trial process
Purpose - finding of the fact
Facts are found based upon evidence
Judge or jury finds/decided on facts
If jury trial, judge is limited to rulings of:
- evidence admission
- law/legal issues
- sentencing
Trial witness
Testify for the prosecution and the defense in criminal cases
Testify for the plaintiff and the defense in civil cases
Responsibility of witnesses
Tell the truth
Testify to the facts
Sequestered
Court order for witnesses to be kept separate from discussing their testimony or the case
Order if the court that required all witnesses to remain outside the courtroom
Evidence
Hearsay is out of court statements offered to prove the truth of whatever it asserts, which is then offered in eveidence to prove the truth of the matter
The problem with hearsay is that when the person being quoted is not present, it becomes impossible to establish credibility
Types of evidence
Real evidence
Circumstancial evidence
Hearsay
Real evidence
Clothing, firearm (physical evidence)
Circumstantial evidence
Required judge/ jury to make inferences and draw conclusions exclusionary rule
Hearsay
Out of court statement offered to prove the truth of whatever it asserts cannot be used as evidence
Commonwealth v. Long
Youth Violence Strike Force traffic stop; firearm recovered; challenging the stop because they believed it was racially motivated
Long motion
Look at officers record to determine statistics of who they pull over the most (based on race)
