Criminal Adjudication

Guilty plea definition

An admission of the facts contained in the charging document.

A guilty plea must be

Knowing/intelligent and voluntary.

There must be an ________ that the guilty plea was knowing and voluntary.

Affirmative showing on the record

Judge must determine that there is a ______ for the guilty plea.

Factual basis

The record must reflect that the judge has determined that the defendant knows and understands the following:

1. the nature of the charges and their essential elements

2. the direct consequences of the plea and

3. the rights that the defendant is waiving.

Is a defendant's plea made in response to the prosecution's threat to bring more serious charges a Due Process violation?

No, if the prosecution has probable cause to believe that the defendant has committed the more serious charges.

Who is the plea agreement enforceable against?

The defendant and the prosecutor, not the judge.

Two possible remedies when the prosecution fails to honor their half of the plea bargain:

Specific performance or allowing the defendant to withdraw their guilty plea and start over.

In deciding on a remedy, courts should consider:

Whether the prosecutor's breach was deliberate and whether specific performance would really put the defendant in the same position as before the breach.

After the court accepts a defendant's guilty plea but before sentencing, the defendant can withdraw their guilty plea if

they can show fair and just reasons for requesting the withdrawal.

When is a person constitutionally entitled to a jury trial?

When they are charged with a non-petty offense.

Non-petty offense

maximum authorized term of confinement more than 6 months. Or less if additional statutory penalties make the offense non-petty.

Waiver to jury trial

If expressly and intelligently made. May be conditioned of consent by the prosecutor and approval by the trial court.

Jury pool

Must reflect a fair cross-section of the community.

To make a prima-facie showing of a fair-cross-section violation, the defendant must show that:

1. the group alleged to be excluded is a distinctive group in the community

2. the representation of this group in jury pools is not fair and reasonable in relation to the number of such persons in the community, and

3. this under-representation is due to systematic exclusion of the group in the jury selection process.

The government can rebut a prima facie case of a fair-cross-section violation by showing:

that a significant state interest is manifestly and primarily advanced by the jury selection process.

How a Batson challenge operates:

1. the defendant makes a prima facie case of discriminatory selection

2. the burden shifts to the prosecutor to offer a race neutral explanation for the strikes

3. the judge then decides whether the defendant has proven purposeful discrimination.

Possible remedies to a Batson challenge:

1. declare a mistrial and start over or

2. disallow the discriminatory challenge, set the stricken juror, and continue.

When double jeopardy attaches

Jury trial - when the jury is empaneled and sworn. Bench trial - after the first witness is sworn. Guilty plea - after the court accepts the plea and enters a judgment of conviction.

For a defendant to assert collateral estoppel in a criminal case, they must show that:

1. the verdict in the first proceeding rested on an ultimate issue of fact.

2. the issue has been determined by a valid and final judgment.

3. the same parties are involved in both proceedings. and

4. the burden of proof is the same or greater in the subsequent proceeding.

Same offense

Whether each provision requires proof of an element that the other does not.

Determining whether a punishment is civil or criminal

1. whether the legislature indicated a preference for one or the other, and

2. whether the statutory scheme is so punitive as to transform what is clearly intended as a civil remedy into a criminal penalty.

In making the determination as to whether its civil or criminal, the court looks at the following factors:

1. does the sanction involve an affirmative disability or restraint,

2. has the sanction historically been regarded as punishment,

3. does the sanction only apply upon a finding of scienter,

4. does the sanction promote the traditional aims of punishment,

5. is the behavior to which is applies already a crime,

6. is an alternative purpose assigned to it, and

7. does it appear excessing in relation to the alternative purpose assigned.

When looking at a mistrial, the reviewing court should consider

1. whether there were meaningful alternatives to declaring a mistrial,

2. the prosecution's motive for seeking the mistrial, and

3. prejudice to the defendant.

Double jeopardy does not bar retrial when a defendant ______ to a mistrial.

requests or consents