Chapter 10 The Criminal Trial

Chapter 10 The Criminal Trial

Learning Outcomes LO1: Identify the basic protections enjoyed by criminal defendants in the United States. LO2: Explain what “taking the fifth” really means. LO3: Contrast challenges for cause and peremptory challenges during voir dire. LO4: List the standard steps in a criminal jury trial. LO5: List the six basic steps of an appeal.

Identify the basic protections enjoyed by criminal defendants in the United States.

Learning Outcome 1 Speedy Trial: • Required by the Sixth amendment • Barker v. Wingo (1972) • All 50 states have their own speedy-trial statutes

Learning Outcome 1 Statutes of Limitations • Legislative time limits that require prosecutors to charge a defendant within a certain amount of time. • Prosecutions that carry death penalty do not have a statute of limitations.

Learning Outcome 1 The Role of the Jury • Duncan v. Louisiana (1968) • Defendant is entitled to jury trial in all felony cases • In most criminal cases, jury verdict must be unanimous.

Explain what “taking the Fifth” really means.

Learning Outcome 2 The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination: • Provided for in the Fifth amendment • No person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself” • Witnesses are often granted immunity • Adamson v. California (1947) • The decision to “take the fifth” should not prejudice the jury

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty The standard of proof in criminal court is beyond a reasonable doubt. Learning Outcome 2

Contrast challenges for cause and peremptory challenges during voir dire.

Learning Outcome 3 Jurors must be: • A United States citizen • Over 18 years of age • Free of felony convictions • Of the necessary good health to serve • Sufficiently intelligent to understand the issues in the trial • Able to read, write and comprehend English

Learning Outcome 3 • Jurors are selected from a master jury list • venire • All the people who are notified that they have been selected for jury duty. • voir dire • Process in which attorneys can question prospective jurors

Learning Outcome 3 There are two ways jurors are excluded: • Challenges for Cause • The attorney must provide a sound, legally justifiable reason why a juror cannot serve • Peremptory Challenges • Based solely on an attorney’s subjective reasoning

Learning Outcome 3 Race in jury selection • For many years, attorneys used peremptory challenges to segregate • The Batson Reversal (Batson v. Kentucky) • Prohibited prosecutors from using race as basis to exclude jurors

Learning Outcome 3 Women on the Jury • J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994) • Extended Batson ruling to cover gender bias

List the standard steps in a criminal jury trial.

Learning Outcome 4 Opening Statements: • The first step of the trial process. • A “road map” that describes what the attorney will try to show

Learning Outcome 4 Evidence • Testimonial Evidence • Statements by competent witnesses • Lay vs. expert witness • Direct vs. circumstantial evidence • Relevance • Prejudicial evidence

Learning Outcome 4 • Real Evidence • Presented to the court in the form of exhibits, includes any physical items.

Learning Outcome 4 The Prosecution’s Case: • The burden of proof is on the state. • Attempts to establish corpus delicti. • Direct examination of witnesses

Learning Outcome 4 Cross-Examination • Questioning of an opposing witness • Sixth Amendment and the Confrontation Clause • Allows attorneys to test truthfulness of opposing witnesses, and create doubt in jury.

Learning Outcome 4 The Defendant’s Case • Defendant is not required to present a case at all • Most defenses try to expose weaknesses in prosecutor’s case to create reasonable doubt.

Learning Outcome 4 The Defendant’s Case • Other defense strategies • Alibi defense • Affirmative defense • Self-defense • Insanity • Duress • Entrapment

Learning Outcome 4 • Rebuttal and Surrebuttal • Closing arguments • Jury instructions (charging the jury) • Deliberation • Sequestering • The Verdict • Hung juries • The Allen Charge • Jury nullification

CAREERPREP Jury Consultant Job Description: • Pretrial: Research jurors’ backgrounds, assist with juror selection, create favorable potential juror profiles, develop voir dire questions, and organize mock trials to aid trial attorneys. • During trial: Carefully watch jurors’ body language and behavior to determine if the client trial lawyer is communicating her or his arguments successfully, coach witnesses, and help trial lawyers develop strategies. What Kind of Training Is Required? • Minimum of a bachelor’s degree (although a master’s degree or a Ph.D. is ideal) in sociology, political science, criminology, psychology, or behavioral science. Research and data analysis skills are also crucial for this profession. • A strongly developed intuition. Jury consultants are not hired for their expertise in criminal law, but for their insight into human behavior, decision making, and motivational patterns. Annual Salary Range? $40,000–$100,000 For additional information, visit: www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-jury-consultant.htm.

Learning Outcome 4 Appeals: • The defendant can appeal only if they show the trial court acted improperly on a question of law. • Only the defense can appeal. The prosecution is limited by double jeopardy. • Double jeopardy does not preclude the victim from bringing a civil suit, or prevent the defendant from being charged in federal court. • A hung jury does not preclude a retrial.

List the six basic steps of an appeal.

Learning Outcome 5 Appeals: • The two basic reasons for an appeal are to: • Correct an error made in the trial • Review policy • During the appeals process the defendant is no longer presumed innocent

Learning Outcome 5 Habeas Corpus • A judicial order that commands a corrections official to bring a prisoner before a federal court so that the court can hear the convict’s claim that he or she is being held illegally.

The Steps of an Appeal • Within a specific period of time—usually between thirty and ninety days—the defendant must file a notice of appeal. This is a short written statement outlining the basis of the appeal. • The appellant, or losing party in the lower court, must then transfer the trial court record to the appellate court. This record contains items of the case file, including exhibits, and a transcript of the testimony. • Next, the briefs must be filed by both parties. A brief is a written argument that presents the party’s legal arguments and precedents to support these arguments.

The Steps of an Appeal • The briefs are followed by oral arguments, in which attorneys from both sides appear before the appellate court panel to state their positions. • After the oral arguments, the judges retire to deliberate the case. After a decision has been made, one or more of the judges prepare the written opinion.(This process was described in Chapter 8 in more detail.) • Finally, the court holds a disposition in which it announces the next step for the case. The court can uphold the decision of the lower court, or it can modify the lower court decision by changing a part of it but not the whole. The lower court’s decision may be reversed, or set aside, or the appellate court can reverse and remand the case, meaning that the lower court’s decision is overturned and the matter is sent back for further proceedings.

Chapter 10 The Criminal Trial