CHAPTER 10: PRETRIAL ACTIVITIES AND CRIMINAL TRIAL

2 purposes bail serves?

1. Helps to ensure reappearance of the accused 2. Prevents unconvicted individuals from suffering imprisonment unnecessarily

3 types of challenges are recognized in criminal courts:

1. Challenges to the array 2. Challenges for cause 3. Peremptory challenges

PROPERTY BOND

The setting of bail in the form of land houses stocks or other tangible property in the event that the defendant absconds prior to trial the bond becomes the property of the court

Judicial officers are concerned about 2 types of risks:

1. The risk or flight or nonappearance for scheduled court appearances 2. The risk to public safety

A professional jury system offers these advantages:

Dependability Knowledge Equity

In Griffin v. California (1965), the U.S. Supreme Court declared that

If a defendant refuses to testify, prosecutors and judges are enjoined from even commenting on this fact

The 6th Amendment guarantees the right to

Impartial jury

PLEA

In criminal proceedings the defendants formal answer in court to the charge contained in the complaint information or indictment that here she is guilty of the offense charged is not guilty of the offense charged or does not contest the charge

TESTIMONY

Oral evidence offered by a sworn witness on the witness stand during a criminal trial

The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure require judges to

1. Inform the defendant of the various rights he or she is surrendering by pledging guilty 2. Determine that the plea is voluntary 3. Require disclosure of any plea agreements 4. Make sufficient inquiry to ensure there is a factual basis for the plea

Arraignment is generally a brief process with 2 purposes

1. Once again to inform the defendant of the specific charges against him or her 2. To allow the defendant to enter a plea

The review of the arrest proceeds in a relatively informal fashion, with the judge seeking to decide whether, at the time of apprehension, the arresting officer had reason to believe both

1. That a crime had been or was being committed and 2. that a defendant was the person who committed it.

In Witherspoon v. Illinois, the Court ruled that a juror opposed to the death penalty could be excluded from such juries if it were shown that

1. The juror would automatically vote against conviction without regard to the evidence 2. The juror's philosophical orientation would prevent an objective consideration of the evidence

Pretrial service programs (early-intervention programs) perform 2 critical functions:

1. They gather and present information about newly arrested defendants and about available release operations for use by judicial if deciding what conditions are to be set for the defendants release prior to trial 2. They supervise defendants who are released from custody during the pretrial period by monitoring their compliance with release conditions

In Ohio v. Reiner, the U.S. Supreme Court extended the

5th Amendment protections to witness who deny any and all guilt in association with a crime for which another person is being prosecuted

SPEEDY TRIAL ACT

A 1974 federal law that proceedings against the defendant in the federal criminal case begin with the specified period of time such as 70 working days after indictment some states also have speedy trial requirements

In the 1990 case of U.S. v. Montalvo-Murillo,

A defendant who was not provided with a detention hearing at the time of his first appearance and was subsequently released by an appeals court was found to have no "right" to freedom because of this "minor" statutory violation

BAIL BOND

A document guaranteeing the parents of a defendant in court as required and recording the pledge of money or property to be paid to the court if he or she does not appear which is signed by the person to be released and anyone else acting on his or her behalf

COMPETENT TO LAW

A finding by a court that the defendant has sufficient present ability to consult with his or her attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and that the defendant has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him or her

DANGER LAW

A lot intended to prevent the pretrial release of criminal defendants judge to represent a danger to others in the community

NOLO CONTENDERE

A plea of no contest no contest plea is used when the defendant does not wish to contest conviction because the plea does not admit guilt however it cannot provide the basis for later civil suits that might follow criminal conviction

FIRST APPEARANCE

An appearance before a magistrate during which the legality of the defendants arrest is initially assessed and the defendant is informed of the charges on with here she is being held at this stage in the criminal justice process bail may be set for pretrial release of arranged

CLOSING ARGUMENT

An oral summation of a case presented to a judge or two a judge and jury by the prosecution or by the defense in a criminal trial

EVIDENCE

Anything useful to a judge or jury in deciding the facts of the case evidence may take the form of witness testimony written documents videotapes magnetic media photographs physical objects and so on

RULES OF EVIDENCE

Court rules that govern the admissibility of evidence at the criminal hearings and trial

REAL EVIDENCE

Evidence that consists of physical material or traces of physical activity

DIRECT EVIDENCE

Evidence that if believe directly proves a fact eyewitness testimony and video tape documentation accounts for the majority of all direct evidence heard in the criminal court

CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE

Evidence that requires interpretation or that requires a judge or jury to reach a conclusion based on what the evidence indicates from the proximity of the defendant to a smoking gun. FOR EXAMPLE THE JURY MIGHT CONCLUDE THAT HE OR SHE PULLED THE TRIGGER

The 1984 federal Bail Reform Act allows

Federal judges to assess the danger of an accused to the community and to deny bail to defendants who are thought to be dangerous

The harmless error rule?

Places the burden on the prosecution to show that the jury's decision would most likely have been the same even in the absence of the inappropriate evidence

HEARSAY

Something that is not based on the personal knowledge of a witness witnesses who testified about something they have heard for example are offering hearsay by repeating information about matter of which they have no direct knowledge

VERDICT

The decision of the jury in a jury trial or of a judicial officer in a non jury trail

PROBATIVE VALUE

The degree to which a particular Item of evidence is useful in, and relevant to providing something important in a trial.

OPENING STATEMENT

The initial statement of the prosecutor or the defense attorney made in a court of law to a judge or jury describing the fact that you she intends to present during trial to prove the case

PERJURY

The intentional making of a false statement as part of the testimony by a sworn witness in a judicial proceeding on a matter relevant to the case at hand

SEQUESTERED JURY

The jury that is isolated from the public during the course of a trial and throughout the deliberation process

HEARSAY RULE

The long-standing precedent that hearsay cannot be used in American courtrooms rather than accepting testimony based on hearsay" last of the person who was the original source of the hearsay information be brought into be questioning cross-examined exceptions to the hearsay will may occur when the person with direct knowledge is dead or is otherwise unable to testify

RELEASE ON RECOGNIZANCE

The pretrial release of the criminal defendant on his or her written promise to appear in court as required our property bond is required

PLEA BARGAINING

The process of negotiating an agreement among the defendant the prosecutor and the court as to inappropriately and associate a sentence in a given case plea-bargaining circumvents the trial process and dramatically reduces the time required for the resolution of a criminal case

JURY SELECTION

The process whereby according to law and precedent members of a trial jury are chosen

Cross-examination

The questioning of a witness by someone other than the direct examiner

CONDITIONAL RELEASE

The release by executive decision of the prisoner from a federal or state correctional facility who has not served his or her full sentence in his freedom is contingent on obeying specified rules of behavior

PRETRIAL RELEASE

The release of an accused person from custody for all a part of the time before or during prosecution on his or her promise to appear in court when required

PEREMPTORY CHALLENGE

The right to challenge a potential juror without disclosing the reason for the challenge prosecutors and defense attorneys routinely use preparatory challenges ceremony from Juries individuals who although they expressed no obvious bias Are thought to be a capable of swaying featuring in an undesirable direction

ADVERSARIAL SYSTEM

The two-sided structure under which American criminal trial courts operate that first-served real system fits the prosecution against the defendant in theory Justices then when the most effective adversary is able to convince the judge or jury that his or her perspective on the case is the correct one

In the case of Sell v. U.S., the court ruled that

The use of anti-psychotic drugs on a non-violent pretrial defendant who does not represent a danger while institutionalized must be in the defendant's best medical interest and must be "substantionally unlikely" to cause side effects that might compromise the fairness of the trial

SCIENTIFIC JURY SELECTION

The use of correlation techniques from the social sciences to gauge the likelihood that potential jurors will vote for a conviction or for acquittal

Purpose of cross-examination?

To test the credibility and the memory of the witness

In the case of Henderson v. Morgan,

the U.S. Supreme Court permitted a defendant to withdraw a plea of guilty nine years after it had been given.