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Court Room Participants And Trial
David Brackett
Course
The American Criminal Justice System (CRJU 101)
108 Documents
Students shared 108 documents in this course
University
University of South Carolina
Academic year: 2021/2022
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Court Room Participants and Trial
³
Charges and Proceedings Before Trials
* constitution
requires citizens to be informed of charges against them before they are tried in court of law
*
first step is arrest and booking of suspect
formally charges person with having committed a crime
*
process of bringing person to that involves joint activities of prosecutor and police
*
many steps occur during booking and arraignment
• One is to determine where
arraignment will occur
³ Determining the Charges : The Police and the Prosecutor , Prosecutorial , and Due Process
* the
police and the prosecutor
• When
person is first arrested , law enforcement officer files report charging the person with crimes)
after booking , magistrate reviews the charges filed and determines if police have provided individual with constitutional rights
prosecutor has final authority in determining the charges and prosecuting the defendant
'
prosecutor is responsible for presenting evidence
³
Determining the Charges : The Police and the Prosecutor - Prosecutorial Discretion
* police arrest and booking is no
guarantee that the prosecutor will see same merit in the case
*
prosecutor may allude there is not sufficient evidence to proceed to that
* also common
for the prosecutor to modify the charges before moving case foreword
*
prosecutor has the following options :
dropping some or all of the charges
adding additional charges
reducing the charges
* this
power of the prosecutor is called prosecutorial discretion
* prosecutor also exercise
power in preliminary hearing and with regard to Information , Indictment , and arraignment
³
Determining the Charges : The Police and the Prosecutor - Relationship Between Prosecutor and law Enforcement
* law
enforcement and prosecutor are each autonomous agencies , but without cooperation , it is difficult to achieve successful prosecution
*
after arrest by police , prosecutor has very short time , usually 48-72 hours to denote whether to proceed
relationship is important at this point
* in some
major cases , police and prosecutor work together prior to arrest of suspect
*
prosecutor may use grand jury to obtain indictment
^
grand jury- jury that is used to determine if criminal charges should be brought against the accused
³ Determining the Charges: The police and the Prosecutor - Arraignment
* prosecutor must present evidence at
arraignment that defendant should be tried for the offense
* this is
final stage before the that
'
charges filed at this time are those on which defendant will be tried
- this is the
first time defendant is asked to formally declare a plea
####### * at
hearing , prosecutor must choose how much evidence he or she should present to convince court to hold defendant over for that
³ Competency to stand Trial
prior to trial , court must determine competency of defendant to stand trial
for most cases , this issue is not raised
- no reason to
suspect defendant is not competent
competency is usually determined by ruling of magistrate judge
- health is one
ofthe most common reasons defendant may not be competent
declaring defendant not competent is a temporary ruling
####### ' that will
resume once defendant is found competent
- In some cases
, defendant may never be deemed competent to stand trial
Charges indefinitely suspended
'
some may receive diversion
finding of incompetence does not mean defendant is insane
insanity is an affirmative defense that must be proved at trial by defense
####### ³ Ball
- mechanism
for providing pretrial release
####### * has roots in
english history and has been used since before norman conquest of 1066
'
prisoners placed with private parties who would guarantee their delivery to court
- custodians would
sign a bond (private surety)
if they failed to produce prisoners on trial date , they forfeited specified sum of money or property
- new American
government adopted variation of this pretrial procedure
eighth amendment recognized concept of bail
'
specified excessive ball should not be required of accused
####### * ball
defined
- traditional method
of guaranteeing appearance is to require cash bond or some property of value
eighth Amendment does not guarantee ball will be granted, only excessive ball should not be required
####### * US
Supreme court has interpreted this amendment to mean defendant does indeed have right to bout
####### ³ Ball : Denial
of Ball
####### * ball is not absolute
guarantee
- under some circumstances
, defendants can be denied ball
####### * most common use
of denial of ball
####### * the 1984
federal ball reform act provided authority to federal judges to deny ball based on danger of defendant to community
for misdemeanor offenses , ball set based on fixed fee schedule
####### *
for felonies , ball determined by judge at ball hearing
fruit ofthe poisonous tree - Illegally obtained evidence
'
judge either agrees or disagrees with objection
####### *
after that , case can be appealed in either side believes judge made judicial error
³ Plea
Bargaining
* another pretrial activity
* plea
bargaining - agreements between defendants and prosecutors in which defendants agree to plead guilty to some or all of the charges against them
####### * 97%
of federal cases and 94% of State cases are disposed of by this method without ever going to that
####### * both
police and victim often object to this practice
offender not punished to fullest extent of the law
Often would like to see defendant prosecuted on most serious charges
####### *
despite views , prosecutors often dude to offer defendants opportunity to plead to lesser charges
####### ³ Plea
Bargaining : Time and cost
- One reason
for use of plea deals is that that preparation is a time-consuming and costly endeavor
####### *
prosecutor bears responsibility for that preparation and costs associated
' most
only have limited staff and budget and cannot take every case to trial
* prosecutor's
office must select which defendants to take to that and which to offer plea bargains
many offenses settled by plea bargain
integral part of process because it keeps costs down
³ Plea
Bargaining : Community Interest
####### * In
detecting whether to offer plea bargains, prosecutors must make decision as to how best to serve community interests with
####### limited resources
plea bargains guarantee guilty verdicts
prosecutors win convictions in approximately 80% of cases taken to trial , but would not be able to devote personnel and resources necessary
without plea bargains
####### *
Irony is that career criminals seem to benefit more from plea bargaining than minor criminals or the innocent
####### ³ Plea
Bargaining: Clearing cases
####### * one reason
prosecutors may decide to plea bargain
####### * What is
gained?
- Allows
reporting of higher clearance rate of cases to the public
'
prosecutor knows that even if defendant is convicted of multiple offenses , he or she may end up serving concurrent sentences
extra time and effort required to obtain convictions may make little difference in actual outcome
³ Plea Bargaining : Questionable
confidence in the case
####### *
prosecutor may not be completely confident of the case he or she has to present at trial
- can be based on number
of factors
strength of evidence
shaky witnesses
* Any number of reasons
####### may make prosecutor retort to take case to trial
####### ³ Plea
Bargaining: Initiation of Plea Bargaining
####### * can be initiated
by prosecutor or defense attorney at different points in the process
up until jury renders a verdict
####### *
plea bargaining can center on the charges or the sentence
####### * at arrest
, defendant is typically charged with as many crimes as possible , beginning with the most serious one
'
defendant may offer guilty plea in return for dropping more serious charges
####### *
plea bargaining for testimony is risky
³ Plea
Bargaining: Sentence Bargaining
####### * sentence
bargaining - assurances of lighter or alternative sentences in return for a defendant 's pleading guilty
defendant seeks tenancy
may offer plea in return for recommendation to judge for minimum sentence
- some
defendants want to negotiate where time will be served, what type of facility or security level it is
prosecutors can control bargaining for reduction of charges directly , but judge has control of sentencing
A
process frequently involves negotiation
judge must ultimately approve any plea
####### ³ Plea
Bargaining : Effective counsel in Plea- Bargaining law
- court in
gideon V Wainwright 11963 ) did not include right to counsel at pretrial negotiations
- Missouri v.
frye 12012 ) and Iafter v. Coope ( 2012 )
Court extended right to effective counsel to include counsel during plea negotiations
- cases are controversial in that
they seem to guarantee defendant to most favorable outcome possible
- concern
highlighted by tendency for longer mandatory sentencing
many states have adopted harsh penalties that make plea bargains appear
" attractive " >
phenomenon referred to as that penalty
- m some
jurisdictions , gap has widened so much that it has become coercive and used to punish defendants for exercising right to trial , some
experts say
given this concern , constitutional right to effective counsel during pretrial negotiations is critical to ensuring justice and due process
####### ³ Duties and
Rights of Participants : Bench Trial
judge's role can be complicated in a bench that
####### * that where
judge , not a jury. determines guilt or innocence of a defendant
judge must act as impartial member and at conclusion make determination of guilt
####### * some states
prohibit bench trials in cases involving serious felonies
####### ³ Duties and
Rights of Participants: Jury service - Exemptions from Jury Duty
####### * citizens are
paid for jury duty by government
'
rate of pay is very low, ranging from only a few dollars to $ 40 a day
####### * most
jurors serve for short periods but may be asked to serve longer ; for some jurors , even a few days impose a severe hardship
####### * some citizens
may not be competent to serve as juror
for these and other reasons , court may excuse citizens from jury duty
####### * each
jurisdiction determines rules for excusing citizens from jury service , but rules must not discriminate
####### *
taylor v. louisiana ( 1975 )
Supreme court decided exclusion of women from jury duty created Imbalance injury pool and was not justified
####### *
legitimate reasons for being excused from jury duty
####### * most
jurisdictions require jury service only once a year
³ Duties and
Rights of Participants : Jury service - Jury Requirements
####### * court must ensure that those who are called do serve
°
As result , there are penalties for those who unlawfully avoid jury duty and for anyone who interfere with , intimidate , or threaten citizens to
prevent them from fulfilling their civic duties
####### * Constitution does not
require jury of 12 people
number is a tradition but not a legal requirement, and obtaining 12 people to serve on a jury can be a challenge
- some
states have reduced the number of jurors required for a trial
All states require 12 jurors for capital (death penalty) cases , and all but 6 States require 12 jurors for felony trials
a
fourteen states allow misdemeanor trials with only 6 jurors
other states allow criminal trials with a jury of 7 or 8
Was this document helpful?
Court Room Participants And Trial
Course: The American Criminal Justice System (CRJU 101)
108 Documents
Students shared 108 documents in this course
University: University of South Carolina
Was this document helpful?
Court
Room
Participants
and
Trial
³
Charges
and
Proceedings
Before
Trials
*
constitution
requires
citizens
to
be
informed
of
charges
against
them
before
they
are
tried
in
court
of
law
*
first
step
is
arrest
and
booking
of
suspect
¥
formally
charges
person
with
having
committed
a
crime
*
process
of
bringing
person
to
that
involves
joint
activities
of
prosecutor
and
police
*
many
steps
occur
during
booking
and
arraignment
¥
One
is
to
determine
where
arraignment
will
occur
³
Determining
the
Charges
:
The
Police
and
the
Prosecutor
,
Prosecutorial
,
and
Due
Process
*
the
police
and
the
prosecutor
¥
When
person
is
first
arrested
,
law
enforcement
officer
files
report
charging
the
person
with
crimes
)
¥
after
booking
,
magistrate
reviews
the
charges
filed
and
determines
if
police
have
provided
individual
with
constitutional
rights
¥
prosecutor
has
final
authority
in
determining
the
charges
and
prosecuting
the
defendant
'
prosecutor
is
responsible
for
presenting
evidence
³
Determining
the
Charges
:
The
Police
and
the
Prosecutor
-
Prosecutorial
Discretion
*
police
arrest
and
booking
is
no
guarantee
that
the
prosecutor
will
see
same
merit
in
the
case
*
prosecutor
may
allude
there
is
not
sufficient
evidence
to
proceed
to
that
*
also
common
for
the
prosecutor
to
modify
the
charges
before
moving
case
foreword
*
prosecutor
has
the
following
options
:
¥
dropping
some
or
all
of
the
charges
¥
adding
additional
charges
¥
reducing
the
charges
*
this
power
of
the
prosecutor
is
called
prosecutorial
discretion
*
prosecutor
also
exercise
power
in
preliminary
hearing
and
with
regard
to
Information
,
Indictment
,
and
arraignment
³
Determining
the
Charges
:
The
Police
and
the
Prosecutor
-
Relationship
Between
Prosecutor
and
law
Enforcement
*
law
enforcement
and
prosecutor
are
each
autonomous
agencies
,
but
without
cooperation
,
it
is
difficult
to
achieve
successful
prosecution
*
after
arrest
by
police
,
prosecutor
has
very
short
time
,
usually
48-72
hours
to
denote
whether
to
proceed
¥
relationship
is
important
at
this
point
*
in
some
major
cases
,
police
and
prosecutor
work
together
prior
to
arrest
of
suspect
*
prosecutor
may
use
grand
jury
to
obtain
indictment
^
grand
jury
-
jury
that
is
used
to
determine
if
criminal
charges
should
be
brought
against
the
accused
³
Determining
the
Charges
:
The
police
and
the
Prosecutor
-
Arraignment
*
prosecutor
must
present
evidence
at
arraignment
that
defendant
should
be
tried
for
the
offense
*
this
is
final
stage
before
the
that
'
charges
filed
at
this
time
are
those
on
which
defendant
will
be
tried
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