Criminal Procedure Flashcards
What is a guilty plea?
A guilty plea is a waiver of the 6th amendment right to a jury trial. To be a valid waiver, the judge must determine on the record that the guilty plea represents to a voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternative courses of action open to the defendant. To ensure that this is the case, the judge should make sure that the defendant is informed of the nature of the charge to which the plea is offered, of the max possible penalty, that she has a right not to plead guilty, and that by pleading guilty she waives her right to a trial.
The sixth amendment right to a speedy trial attaches until…
The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial does not attach until the defendant has been arrested or charged. Pre-arrest delays do not violate this standard, nor do they violate general due process requirements unless they wrestle in bad faith and prejudice the defendant. Otherwise, the only limitation or pre-arrest delay would be the statue of limitations for the particular crime.
Double jeopardy and retrial
The Double Jeopardy prohibits retrying a defendant whose conviction has been reversed on appeal for any offense more serious than that for which she was convicted at the first trial. This right is violated by retrial for for a more serious offense, even if at the second trial the defendant is only convicted of an offense no more serious than that for which she was convicted at the first trial.
Sixth amendment and the right to confront adverse witness with exceptions
Where two persons are tried together and one has given a confession implicating the other, the general rule is that the Sixth Amendment right to confront adverse witness prohibits the use of such a statement. This problem arises because of the inability of the nonconfessing defendant to compel the confessing co-defendant to take the stand for cross-examination at their joint trial. As exceptions to the general rule, the statement may be admitted if: (i) all portions of the statement referring to the other defendant can be eliminated (so that there is no indication of that defendant’s involvement); (ii) the confessing defendant takes the stand and subjects himself to cross-examination with respect to the truth or falsity of what the statement asserts; or (iii) the confession of the nontestifying co-defendant is being used to rebut the defendant’s claim that his confession was obtained coercively, in which case the jury must be instructed as to the purpose of the admission. The accomplice’s confession, which the prosecution seeks to introduce into evidence, implicates the defendant in the commission of the crimes charged
Unilateral approach
The crime of conspiracy requires that only one party have genuine criminal intent, and may be shown by proof that the D agreed with another to commit a crime, even if the other person does not share the commitment. Thus, the fact that no other party to the conspiracy could be found guilty does not prevent the D from being convicted of conspiracy.
While a suspect has no right to counsel at a pre-charge lineup, there is such a right at any post-charge lineup or show under the 6th amendment principals. However, at nontrivial proceedings (such as post-indictment lineup), the harmless error rule applies to deprivations of counsel.
Automobile exception
If the police have probable cause to believe that a vehicle contains contraband or fruits, instrumentalities or evidence o f a crime, they may search the vehicle, including the driver’s belongings without a warrant.
Can criminal porceedins be closed to the public?
The Supreme Court has held, at least in the context of criminal cases, that trials and pretrial proceedings can be closed only if closure is necessary to preserve an overriding interest and the closure order is narrowly tailored to serve the overriding interest.
