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Explore the functioning of the court system, including roles of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other court personnel. Learn about pretrial procedures, trial motions, and the purposes of sentencing.
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Criminal Justice in action 2007 Chapter 8: Courts and the Quest for Justice Chapter 9: Pretrial Procedures and the Criminal Trial Chapter 10: Punishment and Sentencing
Chapter 8: The Court System Trial courts are where decisions are made as to the defendant’s guilt or innocence. Appellate courts are where decisions are reviewed from trial courts. The Dual Court system is composed of state and federal courts.
Chapter 8: Major Roles in the Courtroom There are six major roles in the courtroom. Judge-makes courtroom decisions, decides sentencing. Prosecutor – brings charges against the accused in name of the State. (In Federal Courts the prosecutor is called a US attorney. ) Defense attorney- defends the accused. Bailiff – maintains order in the courtroom and the judge’s chambers. Clerk – accepts all the motions and pleas from the judge. Court reporter(s) – records what is said at trials and depositions. In the Federal Courts – the prosecutor is called the US attorney.
Chapter 8: Ethical Questions Supreme Court justices are appointed by the president. (page 199) Do you think that this is right considering that the bench will lean one way or the other on important views because of which party the president belongs to? Don’t political appointments make politics a part of justice? Do political decisions influence objective judgment? (page 202)
Chapter 9: Pretrial Pretrial Detention- suspects are detained at least until the time of their initial appearance. Initial Appearance- suspects are informed of their rights, the charges brought against them, told the amount of bail and given a date for the preliminary hearing (pg. 221).
Chapter 9: Establishing Probable Cause Preliminary Hearing- a judge decides if the evidence and defendant have enough reason to go to trial. Evidence and witnesses are shared to prove cause and that is called discovery the evidence presented to the judge is accessible to the prosecution and the defense. Only 2% of cases are dismissed at this point of the trial procedure. Grand Jury- group of people decide whether probable cause is present in the case. If cause is decided on, an indictment is issued to charge the defendant. In some states the grand jury is only an option, and in Pennsylvania it does not exist. Pre-trial/Trial Motions- suppress evidence, change of venue, invalidate a search warrant, dismissal and to obtain future evidence.
Chapter 9: Prosecutorial Discretion & Case Attrition Case Attrition-Half of adult felonies are dismissed through a nolleprosequi. Only about one in four adults arrested for a felony serve jail time, this is explained through prosecutorial discretion. “The discretion of a prosecutor when it comes to charging a person with having committed a crime is far ranging…controls are indirect and informal". Pg. 225-26. Plea bargaining- The prosecutor offers a lighter sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. These deals are subject to court approval. Other factors: sufficient evidence for conviction, case priorities, uncooperative victim, and unreliability of victims, or if a defendant is willing to testify against other offenders. Pg. 226-27.
Chapter 9: Trial Arraignment- defendant formally charged and has to plead guilty, not guilty or to not contest the charges against them. Trial- If the defendant does not plead guilty he or she proceeds to either a jury trial or a bench trial. In a bench trial, a judge makes the determination of guilt as opposed to a jury. The Burden of Proof lies on the state. The job of the prosecution is to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense may succeed in creating reasonable doubt, often by attempting to exploit weaknesses in the prosecutor's case.
Chapter 9: Ethical Question Are the concerns and safety of the general public brought into consideration when plea bargaining is used today?
Chapter 10: Purposes of Sentencing Deterrence: The goal of the sentencing should be to prevent future crimes through the threat of punishment. There are two concepts of deterrence, general and specific. The idea behind general deterrence is that by punishing one person others will be dissuaded from committing a similar crime. Specific deterrence assumes that an individual, after being punished once for a certain act, will be less likely to repeat that act because she or he does not want to be punished again. Incapacitation: a strategy for preventing crime by detaining criminals in prison. Separating them from society reduces the opportunity for crime. Rehabilitation: removing wrongdoers from their environment and intervening to change their values and personalities, eliminating criminality from their behavioral pattern.
Chapter 10: Structures of Sentencing Indeterminate sentencing: judge determines the minimum and the maximum amount of time a person has to do time. When the minimum amount of time is reached the prisoner can be eligible to be paroled. Determinate sentencing: a period of incarceration that is fixed by a sentencing authority and cannot be reduced by judges or other officials. “Good Time”: a reduction in time that the prisoners have to serve based on good behavior and conformity to rules. Truth in Sentencing: requires murderers and others who commit serious crimes to complete at least 85 percent of their sentencing time. Judicial Sentencing Authority – the judge is most qualified person to make final decision in choosing sentence.
Chapter 10: Forms of Punishment Capital Punishment: The death penalty, reserved for those who commit first-degree murder. Imprisonment: sent to jail for a certain amount of time according to the type of crime. Probation: offender is permitted to live in a community under supervision and is not incarcerated. Fines: can be added on to sentences. When it is the only form of punishment, it usually means the judge feels like the offender is not a threat to society. Restitution: direct payment to the victim or victims of crime. Community service: “Good work” that benefits an entire community. Restorative Justice: when offender has committed a less serious crime the judge usually makes them apologize for it.
Chapter 10: Factors of Sentencing The sentencing process is where the presentence investigative report: an investigative report on the offenders background that assists the judge in determining the proper sentence. The seriousness of the crime: primary factor in judges sentencing decision. Mitigating and aggravating circumstances: circumstances that allow a lighter sentence to be handed down .
Chapter 10: Ethical Questions Sentencing Disparity- A situation in which those convicted of similar crimes do not receive similar sentences. (pg. 267) Do you believe sentencing disparity is evidence of improper judicial discretion?
Trivia Game Answer Questions Have Fun!
Criminal Justice in action 2007 Madeline Brown, Marycolleen Foley, Erik Podhora, Theresa Perry, Heather Blakemore, Andrea McCuistion, Eva, Lonnie Twitchell, Krystle Schultz, Angela Aukland, Vika Stepanova, Cha Cha, Jes Goheen
Chapter 9: Pretrial Initial appearance- after a suspect has been detained they appear before a judge or magistrate and are informed of their rights and are informed of the charges brought against them. Bailis the amount decided by the court to be paid and held until the court appearance of the defendant. The bail money is given back to the defendant upon trial appearance. Bail bondspersons can post the agreement that if the defendant does not show for trial, the court will be paid based on a percentage taken from the total billed to the defendant. Common objection to bail: violated the citizens’ freedom before proven guilty in a court of law (Preventative Detention). Average cost of bail for felonies--graph on page 223.
Chapter 9: Defendants Privileges Right to a “Speedy” trial- is not specific and varies form state to state but there are the ground rules that the arrest and indictment can’t be more than 30 days apart, no more than 10 between the indictment and arraignment and no more than 60 days between the indictment and trial. Evidence of past crimes- other crimes, wrongs or prior bad acts are not admissible in court. Affirmative defense- moving to prove and claim; self-defense, insanity, duress and entrapment.
Chapter 9: Defendants Privileges Appeals- seeking a higher court to review and re-try the lower courts case. About 16% of federal courts cases are appealed Appeals are optional unless a death sentence is delivered, then it is mandatory to appeal. Once the appeals process begins, the defendant is no longer presumed innocent and the burden of proof has shifted. It is now up to the defendant to prove that their convictions should be overturned. Double Jeopardy- a past/ current defendant cannot be tried for the same charge and case. .
Chapter 9: Defendants Privileges The 5th Amendment- allows the defendant or witnesses to not answer questions at trial that would self-incriminate themselves. The only exclusion is a witness that has taken the agreement for immunity for their testimony. Acquittal- found innocent after evidence has been presented at trail. Plea bargaining- after arraignment and before trial. Removes the risk of going to trial, and usually leads to a lesser sentence.
Chapter 9: Steps in a Trial Step 1: Opening statements prosecution Step 2: Opening statements defense Step 3: Prosecution presents evidence and witnesses Step 4: Defense cross-examines Step 5: Defense presents evidence and witnesses Step 6: prosecution cross-examines Step 7: Prosecutions rebuttal Step 8: Defense surrebuttal Step 9: Defense closing statements Step 10: Prosecutions closing statements Step 11: Judge instructs jury Step 12: Jury deliberation Step 13: Presentation of verdict
Chapter 9: Jury Selection 6 requirements- U.S. citizen, 18 years or older, no felony convictions, good health to stay trial, understand the basics of the courtroom procedure and the ability to read, write and familiar with English. Challenges of Selection: Challenge for cause- attorneys must provide evidence that a certain person should not be on the jury. Peremptory challenges- attorney personal reason, no evidence needed but is usually not granted. These cannot be used to deselect someone from the jury because of race or gender. An Impartial Jury is partial to the side of either the prosecution or the defense. Juries must be unanimous for both convictions and acquittals with the exception of Montana, Okalahoma, Oregon, and Texas but cannot stray by more than three votes.
Chapter 9: Evidence in a Trial The state presents evidence against the defendant. Evidence is used to prove true or nonexistence of a fact. Testimony is a form of verbal evidence under oath given by a witness Real Evidence is tangible evidence that a jury can observe. Lay Witness is also referred to, as an eyewitness is someone who can testify to a fact in question without any academic training. Expert Witness is testimony on a certain subject that she/he have experience or training in. Direct Evidence- is exactly as it sounds ex: I saw Jane stab her mother in-law. Circumstantial Evidence- is a likelihood of a course of events that can infer that a fact exists. Relevant Evidence- only evidence deemed relevant by a judge is to be aloud in court. Such as no bring up past events of a defendant unless they bring it up first. Prejudicial Evidence- and information that would cause the jury to vote guilty on character and past acts and not the evidence of the case.
Chapter 9: Prosecutorial Discretion & Case Attrition “The discretion of a prosecutor when it comes to charging a person with having committed a crime is far ranging…controls are indirect and informal". Pg. 225-26. Case Attrition-Half of adult felonies are dismissed through a nolle prosequi. Cases are "nolled" because D.A. lacks the resources to prosecute every case. Not prosecuting: when police break procedural law & negate evidence. This is rare, less than 1% and most are for illegal drug searches. Other factors: sufficient evidence for conviction, case priorities, uncooperative victim, and unreliability of victims, or if a defendant is willing to testify against other offenders. Pg. 226-27.
Chapter 10: Purposes of Sentencing “Two ultimate purposes: deserved infliction of suffering on evildoers, and the prevention of crime” Retribution: Those who commit criminal acts should be punished based on the severity of the crime and that no other factors need to be considered In order to determine how the offender should be punished is based on Just Deserts. Just deserts: theory based on the assertion that criminals deserve to be punished for breaking society’s rules. The severity of the punishment should be determined by nothing other then the severity of the crime committed. Deterrence: The goal of the sentencing should be to prevent future crimes through the threat of punishment. There are two concepts of deterrence, general and specific. The idea behind general deterrence is that by punishing one person others will be dissuaded from committing a similar crime. Specific deterrence assumes that an individual, after being punished once for a certain act, will be less likely to repeat that act because she or he does not want to be punished again. Incapacitation: a strategy for preventing crime by detaining criminals in prison. Separating them from society reduces the opportunity for crime. Rehabilitation: removing wrongdoers from their environment and intervening to change their values and personalities, eliminating criminality from their behavioral pattern.
Chapter 10: Inconsistencies in Sentencing Sentencing Disparity: A situation in which those convicted of similar crimes do not receive similar sentences Sentencing Discrimination: situation in which the sentence appears to be influenced by a defendants race, gender, economic status, or other factors related to the crime.
