CHAPTER 3

1. 1 CHAPTER 3 Using Evidence to Determine Guilt or Innocence

2. 2 EVALUTION AND REVIEW OF EVIDENCE The rules of evidence ultimately decide what evidence will be presented to the judge and jury for evaluation and what evidence will not. Evidence may be evaluated in a variety of settings at various stages of the investigatory and criminal court process. There are many settings where the rules of evidence do not apply. In the process of review and evaluation of evidence, weaker cases are filtered out of the system or lesser charges are used.

3. 3 Team Review of Evidence Some jurisdictions are utilizing a team review of evidence. This has been providing a higher clearance rate. The team approach increases communication and exchange of information, thereby increasing efficiency.

4. 4 Goals of the Criminal Justice System The general recognized overall goals of the criminal justice system are: To discourage and deter people from committing crimes To protect society from dangerous and harmful people To punish people who have committed crimes To rehabilitate and reform people who have committed crimes

5. 5 THE CRIMINAL COURT PROCESS The filing of a criminal complaint with a magistrate or other judicial official is typically how the process begins in a misdemeanor case. The complaint can come before or after the defendant is placed under arrest.

6. 6 The magistrate only determines if probable cause exists to believe that a crime has been committed and that the named defendant committed it. The initial appearance (arraignment) before the magistrate is then held and the charges are read to the defendant; a plea is entered and bail is set.

7. 7 The next step would be the preliminary hearing, if a felony is charged. The case can commence by the filing of an information. In many states and in federal courts, the indictment system is used for felonies instead of public prosecutors issuing criminal complaints. At this point, the judge may dismiss charges if the prosecution�s case is weak. If sufficient evidence is introduced to show probable cause, the defendant is bound over for trial.

8. 8 The Grand Jury The grand jury issues a criminal indictment. The defendant is arraigned after an indictment or information has been issued. The defendant enters a plea at the arraignment and the defendant is bound over to appropriate criminal court for trial.

9. 9 PLEAS A DEFENDANT MAY ENTER TO A CRIMINAL CHARGE The following pleas are available to defendants: Not guilty Guilty�this may be a regular guilty plea or an Alford guilty plea in states permitting the Alford plea. An insanity plea (or defense)�usually this plea is not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. No contest (nolo contendere)�if the statutes of the state allow the plea and the court approves. Standing mute or refusing to enter a plea�this has the same effect as a �not guilty� plea.

10. 10 THE NOT-GUILTY PLEA In all criminal cases, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty through the use of evidence and witnesses presented during a trial. The burden of proof is always on the state or government. The level of proof required in criminal cases is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The accuser must bear the entire burden of proving the charge by the use of competent evidence.

11. 11 THE NOT-GUILTY PLEA (Cont.) The defendant can remain silent and inactive, appear as a witness on his or her own behalf, or actively attack or seek to hinder and minimize the state�s evidence and case. The defendant can deny performing the acts charged or assert an affirmative defense. To assert an affirmative defense, the defendant must come forward with evidence showing a basis for it.

12. 12 THE GUILTY PLEA Since the defendant stands before the court as a witness against himself in entering a guilty plea, the admission of guilt cannot be compelled but must be a voluntary expression of his own choice. A defendant�s consent to judgment without trial constitutes a waiver of the constitutional rights attending a trial; thus, his consent must be made with knowledge of the waiver of those rights. It must be shown that a defendant entered a guilty plea voluntarily and intelligently.

13. 13 THE GUILTY PLEA (Cont.) The evidence presented must convince the trial judge that the defendant did in fact commit the criminal act of whish he/she is charged. There is no constitutional right to plead guilty.

14. 14 ALFORD PLEA The Alford guilty plea permits a defendant to enter a guilty plea while at the same time protesting his innocence. The sentence given would be the same as that given for a regular guilty plea under the state sentencing guidelines.

15. 15 THE NO CONTEST, OR NOLO CONTENDERE, PLEA Most states also have statutes permitting the no contest, or nolo contendere, plea. The plea may be made only with the consent of the trial judge. Some states limit the plea to misdemeanor and local ordinance violations.

16. 16 CONDITIONAL GUILTY PLEA Pleading guilty is not a constitutional right and a defendant may be forced to go to trial. The defendant also does not have the constitutional right to have his/her guilty plea accepted by the court. Under the laws of all states, the trial judge has the discretion to refuse to accept a plea of guilty. Defendants who enter a guilty plea in any form to a criminal charge lose most of their rights to appeal!

17. 17 CONDITIONAL GUILTY PLEA (Cont.) To preserve the right to appeal on any issue before a trial court, defense lawyers sometimes use the conditional guilty plea. The defendant can enter a guilty plea conditioned upon the defendant�s right to appeal the trial judge�s ruling.

18. 18 THE INSANITY PLEA If an insanity plea were entered in a minor criminal matter, the state might agree and join the defendant in requesting the court to find the defendant legally insane. The defendant would very likely then be held for mental observations and treatment for a much longer period than would have been the case had he been convicted of the crime charged. The insanity plea is used by defendants primarily in murder cases, for which sentences are severe.

19. 19 THE INSANITY PLEA (Cont.) The trial would then be bifurcated, with the first part of the trial determining guilt or innocence of the charge and the second part determining whether the defendant was legally insane when the criminal act was committed. Most states place the burden on a defendant using the insanity plea to come forward with evidence showing that he/she was so mentally diseased or defective that he/she was unable to formulate the mental intent to commit the crime charged.

20. 20 PLEA BARGAINING OR SENTENCE BARGAINING Plea bargaining is when a defendant agrees to plead guilty in return for the dropping of one or more of the charges. Agreements made on the sentence a defendant will receive are known as sentence bargains. All sentence or plea bargains are subject to the approval of the trial judge.

21. 21 PLEA BARGAINING OR SENTENCE BARGAINING (Cont.) The main dangers in the present system of nontrial dispositions lie in the fact that it is so informal and invisible that it gives rise to fears that it does not operate fairly, or that it does not accurately identify those who should be prosecuted and what disposition should be made in their cases. There are disturbing opportunities for coercion and overreaching, as well as for undue leniency. The very informality and flexibility of the procedures are sources of potential usefulness and of abuse.

22. 22 AN OFFER TO PLEAD GUILTY CANNOT BE USED AS EVIDENCE IF THE OFFER IS LATER WITHDRAWN By admitting guilt in open court, the defendant acknowledges the wrongful conduct, which is theoretically the first step in rehabilitation. To encourage guilty pleas, there are such rules as 410 of the federal rules of evidence & rule 11 (6) of the federal rules of criminal procedure.

23. 23 Bail 60% of those persons charged are released on bail. Half of those are on signature bonds; half on bail bonds.

24. 24 THE TRIAL Only about 8% of criminal cases in the United States actually go to trial. About 20% of those are tried before a judge, and 80% are tried before a jury. Prior to the trial, discovery is undertaken, where both the prosecution and the defense gather evidence through formal questions put to the other side, depositions of witnesses, and examination of documents & records. Various motions can be filed by the parties as a result of discovery.

25. 25 THE TRIAL (Cont.) Jurors are selected from the community in which the court sits (the venue) from lists maintained by the court. Jurors are summoned and selected, and subpoenas are issued to compel witnesses to attend and testify at the trial. Depending on the seriousness of the crime charged and state rules, the jury may consist of 6 to 12 people. The prosecution presents evidence first and must establish a prima facie case.

26. 26 THE TRIAL (Cont.) If the judge concludes the evidence is insufficient to support a reasonable jury verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the case is dismissed. If the case is not dismissed, the defendant presents evidence to either cast doubt on the prosecution�s case or to prove an affirmative defense including: insanity, immunity, entrapment, or double jeopardy. The prosecution may then offer rebuttal evidence.

27. 27 THE TRIAL (Cont.) After the closing arguments have been delivered to the jury, the trial judge issues jury instructions. Jury deliberations begin. With a not guilty verdict, the case is over and the defendant is discharged from custody. With a guilty verdict, the defendant may file posttrial motions in the trial court such as judgment notwithstanding the verdict (sometimes called J.N.O.V.) or motions for a new trial.

28. 28 Directed Verdict In some cases, where the prosecution has failed to present a prima facie case for jury consideration, the judge may order the entry of a verdict without allowing the jury to consider it. In effect, the judge makes the decision on the verdict. It can be initiated by the judge or by a motion by the attorneys. If this occurs, it will be an acquittal or �not guilty� verdict.

29. 29 THE TRIAL (Cont.) If the defendant�s motions are overruled, the defendant may appeal the criminal conviction and/or the sentence imposed. In state cases, the defendant�s initial appeals go through the state appellate process, which includes an intermediate court called a Court of Appeals and a final court called a State Supreme Court. The state appellate court looks at the evidence to see if it supports the conviction, determines if the judge made any reversible errors or constitutional violations.

30. 30 Appeals After exhausting his/her state court appeals, the defendant may seek review in the federal courts, but only for violation of federal constitutional rights. A writ of certiorari may be filed by the defendant in the U.S. Supreme Court or a writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Courts. Writs of certiorari are limited to a review of state court rulings that violate the defendant�s rights under the Constitution.

31. 31 Habeas corpus writs, filed with a federal district court, ask that court to determine if the defendant is being held in violation of his constitutional rights. The denial of a writ is itself appealable by the defendant through the federal appellate system. Is the process ever truly complete? No�filing successive habeas corpus writs is possible. Even though, in theory, the habeas corpus writ is the final stop in the criminal process.

32. 32 Un-cleared Crimes Of note, cases where insufficient evidence resulted in un-cleared crimes: Anthrax spores sent through the mail in 2001; O. J. Simpson murder trial; JonBenet Ramsey murder; President John F. Kennedy