Courts, Prosecution, and the Defense

1. Courts, Prosecution, and the Defense

2. Overview • General goals of the court system • Provide for an open and impartial forum for seeking the truth • Provide for a fair and equitable hearing using established due process rules • Insure that the process takes place in an atmosphere of legal competence and objectivity • Provide a clear legal outcome

3. The Importance of Courts • Without courts (lawyers, judges), law has no legs: the law is not self-executing • The rights guaranteed under the Constitution against government overreach depend on courts being willing to protect them • E.g., habeas corpus petitions (“produce the body”) • E.g., can “terrorists” be imprisoned without access to courts?

4. The Structure of Courts • All court systems are hierarchies of jurisdiction • State, federal, tribal court hierarchies • Different powers, functions, and occupational priorities for different courts • Original (limited, general) and appellate (intermediate, last resort) jurisdictions

5. The Informal Structure of Courts • Each court is a system • Judge, prosecutor, defense, clerks, probation, police form a “working group” which participates in decision-making • The court working group often seeks to “work things out” among the participants. • The use of plea negotiations and other nonjudicial alternatives to “work things out” is more common than a formal trial process. • The working group exists because participants need to work together over long periods of time • The “worth of a case” is the basic working norm for informal decision-making

6. Overview (cont.) • Courts have a heavy work load • Differences between ideal and real (remember the wedding cake model) • Discretion sometimes results in disparity • Funding problems • Technology as a way of dealing with heavy work loads (e.g., calendaring, jury pools)

7. The Criminal Court ProcessCriticisms of the Courts • Overcrowded dockets • Assembly-line justice –at the lowest level of the wedding cake • Too many incentives to plead guilty and to plea bargain • Too few jury trials • Speedy trials are unattainable

8. A Model State Court System

9. The Criminal Court Process • State courts • Every state has its own court system • No two are alike • Some states still have local courts staffed by amateurs on a part time bases (e.g. village courts in New York) • Deal with variety of cases ranging from homicide to property maintenance

10. The Criminal Court Process (cont.) • Courts of limited jurisdiction • The work horses of the criminal justice system • About 13,500 exist • Organized at municipal or county level • Restricted in types of cases they hear • May be restricted to civil or criminal cases • Dispose of minor cases – may do preliminary activities for some felonies • Sentencing options restricted

11. The Criminal Court Process (cont.) • Specialty courts • Juvenile, family, and probate courts • Courts to combat specific problems • Drug courts, adults, and juveniles • Mental health courts • IRS court

12. The Criminal Court Process (cont.) • Courts of general jurisdiction • Around 2,000 in the U.S. • Hear serious felony cases • Civil cases with damages over a specified amount • Appeals from lower courts • Review of transcript • Trial de novo

13. The Criminal Court Process (cont.) • Appellate courts • Each state has at least one level of appellate courts. • Highest state court, usually called the “State Supreme Court” • Court reconsiders a case that has been tried in order to determine whether the measures used complied with accepted rules of criminal procedure and were in line with constitutional doctrines • Appeal is not a new trial • Can order a new trial, overturn lower court decision, or uphold original verdict

14. Federal Courts • Federal courts • Legal basis for these courts found in Article 3, sec. 1, of U.S. Constitution • Jurisdiction over laws of U.S. and treaties • Maritime jurisdiction • Over controversies between 2 or more states • 3-tiered hierarch of court jurisdiction • U.S. District Courts • U.S. Courts of Appeals • U.S. Supreme Court

15. The Federal Court System

16. Federal Courts (cont.) • U.S. district courts • Trial courts of the federal system • Organized by Congress in the Judicial Act of 1789 • Jurisdiction over violations of federal law, i.e. civil rights violations, interstate transportation of stolen vehicles and kidnappings • May hear inter-state lawsuits or cases where federal government is a party to the suit • Jurisdiction may overlap that of state courts

17. Federal Courts (cont.) • U.S. courts of appeals • Organized into 13 judicial circuits • Hear 40,000 appeals from district courts each year • Empowered to review federal and state appellate court cases when there is a federal issue present • Do not retry the case or review the facts – only matters of procedure and substance of the law • Current attempts to limit the right of appeal

18. Federal Courts (cont.) • The U.S. Supreme Court • Nation’s highest appellate body – court of last resort for all cases tried in federal and state courts • Only federal court mentioned in the Constitution • Nine justices appointed for life (good behavior) by the President with approval of Congress • Court has discretion to choose which cases it will hear

19. Federal Courts (cont.) • Supreme Court process • Most appeals to Supreme Court first evaluated by clerks working for justices • Most cases (90 percent) are brought to the court by using a writ of certiorari • 4 of the 9 justices must vote to hear the case • If the Court decides to hear a case, it reviews legal briefs and may hear oral arguments • May decide to affirm or reverse the decision of the lower court • Decisions become precedent

20. Federal and State Court Caseloads • State courts handle about one hundred million new cases each year including: • 20 million civil and domestic cases • 15 million criminal cases • 2 million juvenile cases • 57 million traffic and ordinance violations

21. Federal and State Court Caseloads (cont.) • Federal courts even though smaller, are equally burdened • Over 320,000 cases filed each year in District Courts • Criminal cases increased 55 percent since 1994 • Circuit Courts hear more than 60,000 appeals per year • In 1969 they heard only 10,000 appeals

22. Federal and State Court Caseloads (cont.) • Causes of court congestion • Rapidly increasing populations outpace growth in court system • People like to sue each other • Aggressive attempts to lower crime rate result in more prosecutions • Complexity of the law and advances in technology • Legal reform efforts may require more trials • Frivolous lawsuits • Lazy judges

23. The Jobs of Judges • Official roles: • Political: campaign for election (if elected); think ahead • Administrative: manage and supervise court personnel, resources, can have extensive control over probation officers and court clerk

24. The Jobs of Judges, cont • Legal: • Issue warrants • Decisions in preliminary hearings – bind over or not • Make bail decisions • agree to plea-bargains • request PSIs (pre-sentence reports)

25. The Jobs of Judges (cont.) • Primary duty is to oversee the trial process • Ensures appropriate conduct • Guides selection of juries and instructs on their roles during trial • Settles questions of evidence and procedure – deals with motions • Guides questioning of witnesses • Responsible for jury instructions after case is presented • Decides case in bench trials • Determines the sentence (except in capital cases)

26. The Jobs of Judges (cont.) • Informal roles • Maintain good relations with court working group • Use discretion guided by legal requirements • Personal sense of justice in sentencing • Worry about appeals and being overturned • Exert influence over police and prosecutors • Decisions may shape social policy

27. How to Become a Judge • Judicial qualifications • Qualification vary by state • Typical qualifications are: • Resident of the state • Between 25 and 70 years of age • Member of state bar licensed to practice law • Lower courts may not require law degree

28. How to Become a Judge (cont.) • Judicial selection systems • Appointment • Popular election • Nonpartisan election • Missouri Plan • Judicial nominating commission • Appointed by governor from commission’s list • Retention election

29. The Prosecutor • The prosecutor • May be called district attorney, county attorney, state’s attorney, or U.S. attorney depending on the level of government and jurisdiction • Responsible for representing the public in criminal trials • Around 2,400 state court prosecutors offices • Employ 65,000 attorneys, investigators, and support staff

30. Prosecutors • Types of prosecutors • U.S. Attorneys – appointed by the President • Federal prosecutors are professional civil service employees • State and county levels, attorney general, and district attorney are chief prosecutorial officers • Political appointees or elected

31. The Jobs of Prosecutors • General duties • Provide advice to law enforcement officers during investigations • Represents the state during pretrial plea negotiations, motions, evidence, and bail hearings • Represents the state at other hearings, criminal trials, and appeals • Legal advisor to county commissioners and other elected officials • Implementation of special programs

32. The Jobs of Prosecutors (cont.) • Administrator: manage the office • Informal: interact with working group • Legal • Evaluate the case file • Decide to take the case forward or not • Conduct the case if go forward • Strategy and tactics • Sentencing recommendations

33. Prosecutorial Discretion • Prosecutors have a great deal of discretion • Evaluate case files • Strong or weak case: factual, legal, political? • Decision Options: • Go forward and charge the defendant to court: indictment or information • – dismiss case, about 50 percent of the time • Plea bargain the case

34. Jobs of Prosecutors (cont.) • May leave decision to charge someone with minor crime primarily to police discretion • Charge construction: • converting facts into a legal case • same facts can be used to construct different charges or cases • charge construction will determine the level of punishment if guilty

35. Prosecutorial Discretion (cont.) • Legal issues influencing prosecutorial discretion on cases • Quality of police work and amount of relevant evidence • Legal weaknesses in the case • Seriousness of offense • Defendant’s prior arrest record • Danger to community • Victim issues influencing prosecutorial discretion • Attitude and behavior of the victim • Reluctance of victim to press charges

36. Prosecutorial Discretion (cont.) • Extra legal/resource issues influencing prosecutorial discretion • Offenders’ race, gender, and ethnicity • Cost of the prosecution to the system • Availability of alternatives • Interest group’s influence causes to focus on particular types of offenses • Fear of losing case – political ramifications

37. Prosecutorial Discretion (cont.) • The role of prosecutorial discretion • Can prevent unnecessarily rigid implementation of criminal law • Humanize operation of criminal justice system • Imposes professional judgments and the sense of the court working group on the processing of cases • Too much discretion can lead to abuse • Prosecutors have their own perspectives

38. Judicial Selection Systems (cont.) • Types of prosecutorial misconduct • overcharging a case to be able to plea-bargain later • making disruptive statements in court • failure to adhere to sentence recommendations pursuant to a plea bargain • represented a criminal defendant currently under prosecution • making public statements harmful to the office • withholding evidence, non-discovery • Knowingly using false or manufactured evidence to gain conviction • using power in vindictive manner to punish defendants who insist on exercising their constitutional rights

39. The Defense Attorney • Integral part of adversarial system • Required to uphold integrity of the legal profession • Must observe and provide zealous defense within boundaries of law

40. The Defense Attorney (cont.) • Courts do not require assistance of counsel for accused in: • Pre-indictment lineups • Booking procedures • Grand jury investigations • Appeals beyond first review • Disciplinary proceedings in correctional institutions • Post-release revocation hearings

41. The Jobs of Defense Attorneys • Roles of the defense • Protect rights of client • Argue for client’s side in plea bargaining and trials • Conduct effective trial strategy, lay grounds for appeal • Duties of defense • How far to go to protect client? • Ethical concerns: balancing rights of client with public safety and justice

42. The Right to Counsel • Legal services for poor people • Gideon v. Wainwright • Argersinger v. Hamlin • Public defender systems • Assigned counsel systems • Contract systems • Private attorneys, pro bono or hired • Most do not practice criminal law • Debate over effectiveness of private attorneys versus attorneys provided by state

43. The Competence of Defense Attorneys • Strickland v. Washington • Inadequate and incompetent counsel • Refuse to meet with client • Fail to cross-examine witnesses • Fail to investigate case • Poor advice to client • Conflict of interest between codefendants’ counsel • Sleeping during trial

44. Court Administration • Administrative Office Act, 1939 • States have been slow to apply court management principles • All states now have some form of court administration

45. Court Administration (cont.) • Computers allow courts to fulfill many functions more efficiently • Maintain case history and statistical reporting • Monitor and schedule cases • Prepare documents • Index cases • Issues summonses • Notify witnesses, attorneys, and others of required appearances • Select and notify jurors • Prepare and administer budgets

46. Court Administration (cont.) • Developing areas of court technology • Communications • Videoconferencing • Evidence presentation • Case management • Internet utilization • Information sharing • Cameras in court

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