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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.
Trial courts
Appellate courts are where
decisions are reviewed from trial
courts.
Appellate courts
The Dual Court system is composed
of state and federal courts.
The Dual Court system
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. )
The judge and prosecutor
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.
The defense attorney and bailiff
The clerk and court reporter
Chapter 8: Ethical Questions
Supreme Court justices are
appointed by the president.
(page 199)
Don’t political appointments
make politics a part of justice?
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?
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.
Pretrial Detention
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).
Initial Appearance
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.
Preliminary Hearing
Grand Jury
Pre-trial/Trial Motions
Chapter 9: Prosecutorial Discretion &
Case Attrition
Case Attrition-Half of adult felonies are
dismissed through a nolle prosequi. Only
about one in four adults arrested for a
felony serve jail time, this is explained
through 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.
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.
Discretion
Plea Bargaining
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.
Arraignment
Trial
The Burden of Proof
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.
Deterrence
Incapacitation
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.
Rehabilitation
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 firstdegree 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 .
The Sentencing Process
The Seriousness of the Crime
Circumstances
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!
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.
Bail is 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.
Pretrial:
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.
Right to a Speedy Trial
Evidence of Past Crimes
Evidence of past crimes- other crimes,
wrongs or prior bad acts are not admissible
in court.
Affirmative Defense
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.
.
Appeals
Double Jeopardy
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.
The 5th Amendment
Acquittal
Plea Bargaining
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
Steps in a Trial
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 causeattorneys 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.
Requirements
Challenges of Selection
An Impartial Jury
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.
Discretion
To Prosecute or Not?
Other factors
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.
The Sentencing Disparity
Sentencing Discrimination