Trial Flashcards
What is the order of arguments under a fair trial?
Trial begins with the opening argument of the prosecution followed by the defense’s opening argument. Closing arguments proceed in the following order: (1) the government argues, (2) the defense argues, and (3) the government rebuts.
What is the right to a public trail?
The Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee the right to a public trial, but the right varies with the stage of the proceeding involved.
a. Pretrial Proceedings
Preliminary probable cause hearings are presumptively open to the public and press, as are pretrial suppression hearings, although the latter may be closed to the public under limited circumstances for example, the party seeking closure has an overriding interest likely to be prejudiced by disclosure and there is no reasonable alternative besides closure). Similarly, a court must make “every reasonable effort” to accommodate public attendance at jury voir dire proceedings.
b. Trial
The press and public have a First Amendment right to attend the trial itself, even when the defense and prosecution agree to close it. The state may constitutionally permit televising criminal proceedings over the defendant’s objection.
What is the right to an unbiased trial?
Due process is violated if the judge is shown to have actual malice against the defendant or to have had a financial interest in having the trial result in a guilty verdict. Impermissible bias also is present when a judge earlier had significant, personal involvement as a prosecutor in a critical decision regarding the defendant’s case.
Must the judge be a lawyer?
A defendant in a minor misdemeanor prosecution has no right to have the trial judge be a lawyer if upon conviction the defendant has a right to trial de novo in a court with a lawyer judge, but for serious crimes, the judge probably must be law-trained.
What are other due process rights?
Due process is violated if:
• The trial is conducted in a manner making it unlikely that the jury gave the evidence reasonable consideration
• The state compels the defendant to stand trial in prison clothing
• The state compels the defendant to stand trial or appear at penalty phase proceedings visibly shackled, unless the court finds the shackling justified by concerns about courtroom security or escape; or
• The jury is exposed to influence favorable to the prosecution
Due process does not require the police to preserve all items that might be used as exculpatory evidence at trial, but does prohibit bad faith destruction.
When is there a right to trial by jury?
There is no constitutional right to jury trial for petty offenses, but only for serious offenses. An offense is serious if imprisonment for more than six months is authorized. Also, there is no right to jury trial in juvenile delinquency proceedings.
What is contempt?
For civil contempt proceedings, there is no jury trial right. For criminal contempt proceedings, cumulative penalties totaling more than six months cannot be imposed without affording the defendant the right to a jury trial. If a judge summarily imposes punishment for contempt during trial, penalties may aggregate more than six months without a jury trial.
What is probation?
A judge may place a contemnor on probation for up to five years without affording them the right to a jury trial, as long as revocation of probation would not result in imprisonment for more than six months.
What is the number of jurors and how do they decide?
There is no constitutional right to a jury of 12, but there must be at least six jurors to satisfy the right to a jury trial. Jury verdicts must be unanimous
How are jurors chosen?
A defendant has a right to have the jury selected from a representative cross-section of the community. The defendant need only show the underrepresentation of a distinct and numerically significant group in the venire to show their jury trial right was violated. Note that a defendant does not have the right to proportional representation of all groups on their particular jury.
What is a peremptory challenge and how is it used?
Although generally a prosecutor may exercise peremptory challenges for any reason, the Equal Protection Clause forbids the use of peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors solely on account of their race or gender. An equal protection-based attack on peremptory strikes involves three steps: (1) The defendant must show facts or circumstances that raise an inference that the exclusion was based on race or gender. (2) Upon such a showing, the prosecutor must come forward with a race-neutral explanation for the strike (even an unreasonable explanation is sufficient, as long as it is race-neutral). (3) The judge then determines whether the prosecutor’s explanation was the genuine reason for striking the juror, or merely a pretext for purposeful discrimination. If the judge believes that the prosecutor was sincere, the strike may be upheld.
What is the right to an impartial jury?
a. Standard—Impair or Prevent Performance
The standard for determining when a prospective juror should be excluded for cause is whether the juror’s views would prevent or substantially impair the performance of their duties in accordance with their instructions and oath.
b. Right to Questioning on Racial Bias
A defendant is entitled to questioning on voir dire specifically directed to racial prejudice whenever race is bound up in the case or the defendant is accused of an interracial capital crime.
c. Juror Opposition to Death Penalty
In capital punishment cases, a state may not automatically exclude for cause all those who express a doubt or scruple about the death penalty; it must be determined whether the juror’s views would prevent or substantially impair performance of their duties in accordance with their instructions and oath. A death sentence imposed by a jury from which a juror was improperly excluded is subject to automatic reversal.
d. Juror Favoring Death Penalty
If a jury is to decide whether a defendant is to be sentenced to death, on voir dire the defendant must be allowed to ask potential jurors if they would automatically give the death penalty upon a guilty verdict. A juror who answers affirmatively must be excluded for cause because such a juror cannot perform their duties in accordance with instructions as to mitigating circumstances.
e. Use of Peremptory Challenge to Maintain Impartial Jury
If a trial court refuses to exclude for cause a juror whom the court should exclude, and the defendant uses a peremptory challenge to exclude the juror, there is no constitutional violation.
What happens when there are inconsistent verdicts?
Inconsistent verdicts (for example, finding the defendant guilty and co-defendant not guilty on the same evidence) are not reviewable.
What is a sentence enhancement?
If substantive law provides that a sentence may be increased beyond the statutory maximum for a crime if additional facts (other than prior conviction) are proved, proof of the facts must be submitted to the jury and proved beyond reasonable doubt; the defendant’s right to jury trial is violated if the judge makes the determination. The same general rule applies to setting the amount due on a fine. If the amount is based on facts, there is a right to have a jury find those facts. The same rule also applies to sentencing enhancements after guilty pleas. In deciding whether to overturn a sentence for failure to submit a sentencing factor to the jury, the harmless error test is applied.
Can a judge decide whether sentences run consecutively?
A state legislature may give to its judges (rather than the jury) the power to decide whether sentences for multiple crimes are to run consecutively or concurrently, even though the decision is based on the facts of the case.
