Trial Stages Flashcards
What is a grand jury indictment?
The indictment is a written accusation stating charges against the defendant issued by a grand jury after it reviews the prosecution’s evidence.
What is a grand jury?
An investigatory tool used in an adversarial hearing.
Do Miranda warnings need to be given for grand jury proceeding?
No, because a ∆ is not in custody.
What is the purpose of bail?
To secure the presence of the accused at trial.
What is the Constitutional right to bail?
There is none.
When bail is appropriate, it should not be?
Excessive
What are the elements of a valid guilty plea?
∆’s plea must be:
- Voluntary
And
- ∆ must understand of what he is pleading guilty to.
Which Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial?
The 6th Amendment
What is only remedy for violation of the right to speedy trial?
Dismissal with prejudice
When does the requirement of a speedy trial begin?
- ∆ is accused by formal charging
Or
- ∆ arrested and held to answer for the crime.
It violates due process for the prosecution to fail to disclose what type of evidence?
Evidence that is:
- Favorable
And
- Material
What is the trigger to disclose favorable evidence?
- If defense makes a discovery request: any evidence that would tend to help the defense is favorable
- If defense fails to make a discovery request: only evidence that is clearly exculpatory is favorable.
If the prosecution fails to disclose favorable evidence, when is a defendant entitled to a new trial?
When the evidence was also material: the evidence would have created a reasonable probability of a different outcome.
When does the destruction of government held evidence violate due process?
When it is destroyed in bad faith.
Absent waiver, a defendant may not be imprisoned for any offense unless?
They are given the right to effective counsel.
What must a defendant seeking a new trial based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel prove?
- Counsel was ineffective: performance fell below minimum standards of lawyerly conduct
And
- Had the lawyer been effective it would have created a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different.
The right to a jury trial attaches in any criminal proceeding where ∆ faces a potential sentence of?
> 6 months
What does the right to a jury selected from a fair cross-section of the community entail?
A jury pool consisting of a fair cross-section of the ethnic and gender demographics of the community.
What does the use of peremptory challenges to exclude prospective jurors based on minority race or gender violate?
The equal protection clause.
What may a party making a peremptory challenge of a prospective minority juror be required to establish?
A race or gender neutral basis for the challenge and if that basis is unpersuasive: the challenge will be denied.
What is the confrontation clause?
The 6th Amendment right for a ∆ to confront witnesses presenting evidence against him.
The right to confrontation is triggered only by what type of evidence?
Testimonial evidence
What type of evidence is a witness is telling the police or a 911 operator what is happening in order to help them respond to an ongoing emergency? Is it testimonial?
The evidence is not testimonial evidence and there is no right to confrontation.
Confrontation is satisfied by subjecting the witness to adversarial testing, which means the witnesses testimony is provided how?
- Under Oath
And
- Subject to cross-examination