Chapter 8- AJS 101

About half of the adult felony cases that police bring to prosecutors are dismissed through a _____.

nolle prosequi

Prosecutors rely heavily on _________ to guide their priorities, resulting in them preferring to take on felony cases rather than misdemeanors.

offense seriousness

A murder trial has ended in a hung jury with six jurors for and two jurors against the conviction of the defendant. The presiding judge at the trial directs the jury into seclusion once more, asking the dissenters to reconsider the opinion of the majority of jurors so that a unanimous decision can be made. In this scenario, the presiding judge has invoked the _____.

Allen Charge

Which of the following is one of the most common reasons for wrongful convictions eventually overturned by DNA evidence?

Eyewitness misidentification

Which of the following is true of bail?

In felony cases, the primary responsibility to set bail lies with the judge.

Which of the following is a true statement about plea bargaining?

It allows defendants a measure of control over their fates.

Which of the following is true of the protection offered by the Fifth Amendment?

It covers only post-arrest and trial silence.

Which of the following best describes a bench trial?

It is a trial conducted without a jury in which a judge makes the determination of a defendant's guilt or innocence.

Which of the following is true of cross-examination?

It is linked to problems presented by hearsay evidence.

Most prosecutors have a screening process for deciding when to prosecute and when to "noll." Which of the following is a factor employed in this process?

Offense seriousness

Which of the following is a minimum requirement for people to be jurors?

They should be free of felony convictions.

The _____ gives a defendant the right not to testify at his or her own trial.

Third Amendment

Noel has a master's degree in forensic science. He is called to a murder trial as a witness for the prosecution. He is shown a collection of photographs, depicting a bullet recovered from the crime scene. He is able to identify the type of bullet, the caliber of the bullet, and the make and model of the gun from which the bullet was shot. In this scenario, Noel is a(n) _____.

expert witness

Which of the following is true of the statute of limitations?

It is not applicable to prosecutions for murder.

_____ is the retention of an accused person in custody due to fears that she or he will commit a crime if released before trial.

Preventive detention

Citizens are protected against unreasonable delays before accusation by statutes of limitations.

True

Which of the following is a similarity between an indictment and an information in a preliminary hearing?

Both become the formal charge against the defendant.

A hung jury can be easily reversed because "no decision" is an illegitimate verdict.

False

An information is a charge or written accusation, issued by a grand jury, that probable cause exists to believe that a named person has committed a crime.

False

Cross-examination is the examination of a witness by the attorney who calls the witness to the stand to testify.

False

During the initial appearance, the defendant appears before a judge who decides whether the evidence presented is sufficient for the case to proceed to trial.

False

Cross-examination usually entails efforts to create doubt in jurors' minds that a witness is reliable.

True

In an arraignment, the accused and the prosecutor work out a mutually satisfactory conclusion to the case.

False

In a criminal trial, the state must prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

True

In an arraignment, due process requirements are satisfied by criminal procedure law.

True

Which of the following is true of the preliminary hearing process?

Typically, a police report of the arrest made is presented.

_____ refers to the preliminary questions that the trial attorneys ask prospective jurors to determine whether they are biased or have any connection with the defendant or a witness.

Voir dire

In felony cases, a defendant is prohibited from making a plea at the initial appearance because:

a magistrate's court does not have jurisdiction to decide felonies.

A(n) _____ refers to a court proceeding in which a suspect is formally charged with the criminal offense stated in the indictment.

arraignment

Alec is a district attorney who is prosecuting a case of art forgery. During jury selection, he declares that a prospective juror is unfit to serve on the jury since she had a connection with the defendant years ago. In this scenario, Alec has exercised a _____.

challenge for cause

In a criminal trial, the burden of proving the defendant's guilt lies entirely with the _________.

state

Citizens are protected against unreasonable delays before accusation by _________.

statutes of limitations

Which of the following is the consequence of a jury being unable to reach a unanimous agreement on whether to acquit or convict a defendant?

A hung jury

A defendant is compelled to testify at his or her own trial.

False

The Supreme Court has held that unanimity is a rigid requirement in jury trials.

False

The guarantee against being tried a second time for the same crime is known as protection from double dealing.

False

_____ is an order that requires corrections officials to bring an inmate before a court or a judge and explain why he or she is being held in prison.

Habeas corpus

Which of the following is true of a high standard of proof?

It reduces the margin of error in criminal cases.

Which of the following is true of jury deliberation?

It takes place in complete seclusion.

_________ is used when deliberations are expected to be lengthy, or a trial is attracting a high amount of interest and the judge wants to keep the jury from being unduly influenced.

Sequestration

Which of the following is a category of evidence?

Testimony

Which of the following is a purpose served by the vagueness of the Eighth Amendment's requirement that "excessive bail shall not be required"?

The protection of the community

Which of the following is true of opening statements?

They consist of a brief version of the facts that will be presented during a trial.

Which of the following is true of closing arguments?

They emphasize the shortcomings of an opposing party's case.

One of the major goals of the victims' rights movement has been to increase the role of victims in the plea bargaining process.

True

A way in which due process requirements are satisfied by criminal procedure law is by:

an arraignment.

Louisa has been arrested for a felony. Her bail is set at $100,000. She does not have sufficient funds to post bail. A businessman agrees to post bail on her behalf if she pays him ten percent of the bail amount and adds her car as security. In this scenario, the businessman is a _____.

bail bond agent

A writ of habeas corpus differs from an appeal in that it:

can be filed only by someone who is imprisoned.

When a witness offers hearsay, the person making the original remarks:

cannot be cross-examined.

The prohibition against _____ means that once a criminal defendant is found not guilty of a particular crime, the government may not reindict the person and retry him or her for the same crime.

double jeopardy

A justification defense strategy is sometimes difficult to carry out because it:

forces the defense to prove the reliability of its own evidence.

Despite the large number of defendants who eventually plead guilty, the plea of not guilty is fairly common at an arraignment. Generally, a not guilty plea in the face of strong evidence is part of a strategy to:

gain a more favorable plea bargain.

A difference between full criminal trials and grand jury proceedings is that:

grand jury proceedings allow jurors to request for witnesses to be recalled to the stand to testify a second time.

The most important factor in deciding whether to prosecute is:

if there is sufficient evidence for conviction.

During the _____, the defendant appears before a judge or magistrate who decides whether the evidence presented is sufficient for the case to proceed to trial.

preliminary hearing

The main goal of jury selection is to:

produce a cross section of the population in the jurisdiction where a crime was committed.

In In re Winship (1970), a case involving the due process rights of juveniles, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution requires the reasonable doubt standard because it:

reassures Americans of the law's moral force and legitimacy.

The Fifth Amendment grants American citizens the _________.

right against self-incrimination