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
More Info: Grand Jury
Do Miranda warnings need to be given for grand jury proceeding?
No, because a defendant 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 what?
Excessive
What are the elements of a valid guilty plea?
Defendant’s plea must be:
- Voluntary
And
- Defendant must understand 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
More Info: Right to Speedy Trial Remedy
When does the requirement of a speedy trial begin?
- Defendant is accused by formal charging
Or
- Defendant 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, then any evidence that would tend to help the defense is favorable
- If defense fails to make a discovery request, then 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, meaning 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 what occurs?
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 the 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 the defendant faces a potential sentence of what length?
Greater than 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 defendant to confront witnesses presenting evidence against him.
More Info: Confrontation Clause
The right to confrontation is triggered only by what type of evidence?
Testimonial evidence
What type of evidence is a witness 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?
A witness’s’ prior testimonial statements offered as hearsay will violate the right to confrontation unless what has occured?
The defendant had a prior opportunity to subject the hearsay to adversarial testing, for example at a prior preliminary hearing.
What are the elements of double jeopardy?
A defendant has been charged:
- Twice
- For the same offense
- By the same sovereign
* More Info:* Double Jeopardy
In a non-jury trial, when does jeopardy attach?
The first witness is sworn and the court begins to hear evidence
In a jury trial, when does jeopardy attach?
When the jury is sworn in
What is the same offense for double jeopardy?
Two crimes occurring out of the same transaction are considered the same offense, unless:
- Each charge requires proof of separate criminal impulses
Or
- Each charge requires proof of separate factual elements
What is the separate sovereignties doctrine?
The double jeopardy prohibition does not prevent dual prosecution by separate sovereigns. A defendant may be prosecuted for the same criminal conduct by a Federal court and a state court.
