Week 9

Question 1

What is it about juries?

Answer 1

• Recall: No jury = bench trial
  
  • Types of Juries:
    
    • Grand: determine whether there is sufficient evidence for prosecution to be pursued
    • Petit: determine guilt/ innocence
• Potential jurors are typically selected at random from lists of licensed drivers and registered voters over 18 years of age. Jurors must be U.S. citizens, understand English, & be physically able to participate through the trial.

Question 2

What is the jury selection, frequency of jury service, and exemption from jury duty?

Answer 2

• Jury Selection: The process of selecting jurors begins with a computer randomlyselectingnames from the PA drivers list of all persons 18 years of age or older.
• Frequency of Jury Service: The law allows persons who have served as a juror a one (1) year exemption. If you are selected and serve on a jury for three (3) days or more, you may be excused for a period of three (3) years from date of service.
• Exemption from Jury Duty: PA law allows for exemption from jury duty for: (1) persons in the active military service, and (2) persons who demonstrate undue hardship or extreme inconvenience. There is no exemption for age.

Question 3

What is the compensation of jury jury duty and penalties of failing to appear?

Answer 3

• Compensation for Jury Duty: Jurors receive $9.00 / day for the first 3 days of service. Beginning on the 4th day, the rate increases to $25.00/ day. Jurors also receive mileage of 17 cents/mile for each day of service, which is automatically calculated from your zip code. There is no legal requirement that employers must pay you while you are on jury service.
• Penalties for failing to appear: If you fail to respond to your Jury Summons, the law allows a fine not to exceed $500 and imprisonment not to exceed 10 days.

Question 4

What is a sequestration?

Answer 4

• Sequestration: A jury is occasionally sequestered, that is kept separate from the public for the duration of a trial, when the judge deems the action necessary because of the nature of the trial. If sequestered, the jurors will have the opportunity to communicate with their families through court personnel & arrangements will be made to have their clothing and personal articles delivered to them.

Question 5

What is the petit jury selection vocabulary?

Answer 5

• Venire: potential juror pool
• Voir dire: process of questioning potential jurors about their backgrounds, opinions, and relationship to the case at hand
• Challenges for cause: potential juror can be eliminated because of bias towards one side
• Peremptory challenges: Attorneys on both sides can eliminate potential jurors for other reasons. The number of these challenges depends on the state.

Question 6

What happens after Voire Dire?

Answer 6

The final jury is typically composed of between 6 and 12 members, sometimes with alternates that can serve if a juror becomes ill or unable to continue with the trial

Question 7

The process of questioning potential jurors about their backgrounds is called \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
A) Venire
B) Voir Dire
C) Peremptory Challenging
D) Challenging for Cause

Answer 7

Voir Dire

Question 8

What is an opening statement, witness, direct and cross examiniation?

Answer 8

• Opening Statement: Attorneys outline what they hope to demonstrate with their side of the case, the role of the jury, etc. (excludes evidentiary details and such)
• Witness: a person who can testify (discuss) some aspect of the case based on personal knowledge
  
  • Those who saw the crime, had discussions with the offender, etc.
  • Expert testimony
• Direct Examination: Attorney questions his/ her own witnesses
• Cross-Examination: Attorney questions witness called by the other side

Question 9

What is a closing argument/ Statement, deliberation, and verdict?

Answer 9

• Closing Argument/ Statement: Attorneys outline the case for the jury, emphasize what the jury should focus on, try to discount facts presented by the other side
• Deliberation: Juries discuss aspects of the case in private. Juries will usually take an initial vote on whether jurors feel the defendant is guilty or not guilty. Juries then discuss relevant aspects of the case and attempt to agree on a single decision, which we call a verdict.
• Verdict: the jury’s decision about guilt or innocence

Question 10

What are the first 4 steps in a trial?

Answer 10

1. Bailiff/Clerk opens the court session
2. Judge enters room and takes his or her seat (the bench)
3. Plaintiff’s/Prosecution’s attorney makes an opening statement
4. Defendant’s attorney makes an opening statement

Question 11

What are steps 5 - 9 in a trial?

Answer 11

5. Plaintiff’s/Prosecution’s attorney questions witnesses that will help their side of the case (direct examination)
6. Defendant’s attorney cross-examines witnesses for the plaintiff/ prosecution
7. The defendant’s attorney questions witnesses that will help the defendant’s side of the case (direct examination)
8. Plaintiff’s/Prosecution’s attorney cross-examines witness for the defense.
9. Plaintiff’s/Prosecution’s attorney gives closing argument.

Question 12

What are steps 10 - 14 in a trial?

Answer 12

10. Defendant’s attorney gives closing argument
11. Plaintiff’s/Prosecution’s attorney gives a rebuttal. (optional)
12. Judge explains to the jury how they are to determine if the defendant is innocent or guilty
13. The jury decides the verdict (deliberation)
14. The decision is announced in court

Question 13

What are some verdict outcomes?

Answer 13

• Criminal juries much reach a unanimous decision
  - Except for Oregon & Louisiana
• Civil juries must reach a majority decision
• Outcomes:
  
  • Not Guilty = acquittal
  • Guilty of all charges
  • Guilty of certain charges
  • Hung Jury: a jury that cannot agree on a verdict
    
    • Results in a mistrial
    • Case may be retried without being considered double jeopardy

Question 14

TRUE/FALSE: The prosecution usually makes an opening statement at trial before the defense.
A) TRUE
B) FALSE

Answer 14

True

Question 15

What is capital punishment?

Answer 15

Capital punishment is also known as the death penalty. A capital offense is one for which a person can legally be sentenced to death. The most typical capital offense (worldwide) is murder.

Question 16

What are basic facts about the death penalty?

Answer 16

• 34 states have the death penalty available (as of 2011)
• 3% of murderers receive the death penalty sentence
• Offenders may spend a decade or more on death row, may die of natural causes/ suicide before the sentence is ever carried out
• Most countries have abolished the death penalty either in law or in practice
• Minorities are disproportionately executed
• Most victims in death penalty cases are white, even though only about 50% of murder victims are white
• Methods of execution offered:
  
  • Lethal injection (~34 states)
  • Electric chair (9 states)
  • Gas chamber (4 states)
  • Firing squad (in rare cases in OK & UT)
  • Hanging (New Hampshire, Washington)

Question 17

What are trial differences?

Answer 17

Since 1976 (Gregg v GA), capital trials have been bifurcated. This means that there is one trial to determine guilt & another to determine whether the death penalty should be the sentence (as opposed to life).

Question 18

What is a penalty phase of trial?

Answer 18

• Attorneys present:
  
  • Aggravating Circumstances– factors that make the crime more serious
    
    • Criminal history, violence of the crime, multiple victims
  • Mitigating Circumstances– factors that make the crime less serious
    
    • Mental impairments, deprived background
  • Victim Impact Statements
• Jury decides on sentence of death or life

Question 19

What are the qualifications of the death penalty?

Answer 19

• In capital trials, jurors must be death-qualified
• During voir dire, jurors are questioned about their views on the death penalty. They can be struck from the juror pool if they are unwilling to impose the death penalty regardless of the case.
• Having general opinions against the death penalty is not enough to get a juror excluded; he/ she must be unwilling to impose it in all cases.
• Jurors can be struck if their biases about the death penalty affect their ability to determine guilt/ innocence. For example, a person strongly opposed to the death penalty might find a person innocent just because they fear that the death penalty might be a possible sentence.

Question 20

What are the criticism of death qualification?

Answer 20

• The remaining jury might be more pro-death & the jury may not be fully representative of the view of the public overall
• Excluding jurors based on race or sex is not allowed. Excluding based on beliefs IS allowed because you are not excluding a clearly defined group with a common culture/ background.
• Death-qualified jurors may consist of fewer minorities.
  
  • Those on death row tend to be poor, uneducated, unmarried, & minorities.
  • Jury members tend to be more favorable to defendants of the same race
  • Juries generally more lenient with whites

Question 21

What are the 9 court cases involved with the death penalty?

Answer 21

• Witherspoon v. Illinois (1968):Jurors must be willing to impose the death penalty in order to sit on a capital jury
• Furman v. Georgia (1972):The application of the death penalty is unconstitutional. This was due to the arbitrariness of the application of the death penalty.
• Gregg v. Georgia (1976):The death penalty is again constitutional, with certain guidelines
• Ford v. Wainwright (1986):8th Amendment prohibits the execution of a person who is insane and not aware of his/ her execution or the reasons for it.
• McCleskey v. Kemp (1987):Studies that show evidence of racial disparities in capital proceedings do not prove that an individual’s death sentence is unconstitutional under the 8th and 14th Amendments.
• Atkins v. Virginia (2002):The execution of a person with “mental retardation” violates the 8th Amendment.
• Roper v. Simmons (2005):The Constitution prohibits the execution of individuals who were under 18 at the time of the offense
• Baze v. Rees (2008):Kentucky’s three-drug protocol for carrying out lethal injections does not violate the 8th Amendment
• Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008):States may not impose the death penalty in a case where the victim’s life was not taken

Question 22

Which U.S. Supreme Court case held that the application of the death penalty was unconstitutional?
A) Furman v. Georgia (1972)
B) Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
C) Ford v. Wainwright (1986)
D) Atkins v. Virginia  (2002)

Answer 22

Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

Question 23

What is direct Appeal?

Answer 23

• Automatically guaranteed to someone sentenced to death
• Typically, the appeal goes through the highest court of appeal in a given state
• This appeal is limited to issues from trial (evidence, testimony, etc.)
• An appeal may be made to the U.S. Supreme Court, although the Supreme Court hears cases by choice only

Question 24

What are the other post-conviction appeals?

Answer 24

• Can concern factors outside of the trial record (assistance of counsel, new evidence, juror misconduct)
• These go through intermediate trial courts to higher courts
• The defendant can ask the Supreme Court to hear the case

Question 25

What is the Federal Habeas Corpus?

Answer 25

• Concerns federal issues (race violation, civil rights, etc.) brought up during appeal in State courts.
• This starts with the U.S. District Court, which can dismiss/ grant the appeal, overturn the conviction, or order a new trial.
• If the appeal is granted, the case will be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals. If it fails there, the U.S. Supreme Court is the last resort.
• Federal cases have their Direct Appeals work in this way

Question 26

What is the executive clemency?

Answer 26

A Governor or other person with similar power can grant a postponement, pardon, or commute a death sentence to life.