courts exam1

Evidence

Something intruded in a trial with the purpose of convincing the jury of a fact

What are the four common types of evidence?

1. Witness Testimony

2. Real Evidence

3. Documentary Evidence

4. Demonstrative Evidence

Witness Testimony

The statements and anything that a witness conveys to a jurist when they take the stand and testifies

Real Evidence

A piece of physical evidence perceptible to the physical senses, like a murder weapon

Documentary Evidence

Evidence that includes documents, such as letters, notes and journals, but also includes electronic documents, like e-mails or text messages

Demonstrative Evidence

A representation or depiction of something from the case, such as a model or animation

Direct Evidence

Evidence based on personal knowledge or observation that proves a fact without inference

Circumstantial Evidence

Evidence that requires the jury to infer one fact from the existence of another fact

The Rules of Evidence

Rules that govern trials in courts of Law in the United States.

The Rules of Evidence can be found in what type of court?

Federal

True or False: Individual states retain a great deal of autonomy in determining their own rules.

True

Do we need rules of evidence? Why or why not?

We need rules of evidence to ensure a fair trial between the defense and prosecution

What is the difference between an adversarial system and an inquisitorial system?

An adversarial system involves the parties being placed in opposition to each other with a neutral judge or jury who determines a "winner", and involves each of the parties submitting their argument to support their case.

An inquisitorial system involves the Court participating actively in the fact-finding process, i.e. they enquire into the truth of the matter - the Court may itself undertake research.

What impact did the Magna Carta have on how criminal trials were to be conducted?

By ensuring that all men were considered equal in the eyes of the law, that all men had the right to swift justice, and that all men were entitled to a fair trial before imprisonment

What is the right to a grand jury, the protection against double jeopardy, and the protection against self-in-criminal ion

The Fifth Amendment

What is the presumption of innocence?

innocent until proven guilty

Describe the process of voir dire, or jury selection

The judge and attorneys then ask the potential jurors questions to determine their suitability to serve on the jury.

What is the process of jury selection important?

It helps make sure that jurors represent a cross section of the community without regard to race, gender, national origin, age, or political affiliation

Information

A legal document filed by the government that informs the defendants of the charges against them - for instance, whether the defendant is accused of violating felony or misdemeanor laws

Jurisdiction

The power or authority over a defendant to prosecute or decide cases

Venue

The geographical location or place where a case is heard

Bondsman

A person or entity that provides a bond or acts as a surety that the defendant will appear for all scheduled court appearances

Discovery

A term used by some jurisdiction to describe the paperwork and evidence that is complied by both the prosecution and defense in the pre trial stages of a criminal matter so that the parties may determine the strengths are weaknesses of their case

Exculpatory Evidence

Denotes evidence that is favorable to the defendant in disproving the defendant's guilt

Subpoena duces recumbent

A demand by the court, at the request of a party in a legal matter, for the production of evidence for use at a hearing or trial

Plea bargain

A means of resolving a case in which the prosecution offers a defendant a reduced charge, dismissed charges, and/or favorable sentencing recommendations if the defendant enters a plea in lieu of taking the case to trial

No contest plea

A type of plea where the defendant does not admit guilt or responsibility for any criminal actions but agrees to not dispute or protest the prosecutor's allegations. The defendant further agrees to be sentenced for the crime associated with her plea

Alford plea

A plea whereby the defendant maintains innocence but admits that the prosecution has sufficient evidence that would likely convince a judge or jury that the defendant is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt

Conditional Guilty Plea

A plea in which a defendant admits guilt but preserves an issue for appellate review so that he may challenge the rulings of the trial court

Insanity Plea

A plea whereby the defendant is not guilty of the crime because they suffer form a mental disease or defect that makes them not responsible for their actions. When making this type of plea, the defendant is stating that mental health problems were so severe at the time of the offense that they were not capable of distinguishing between right and wrong

Motion in liming

A motion "at the outset or on the threshold." A pre trial motion made by an attorney that aims to prevent the introduction of evidence at trial

Venire

A panel or group of people summoned to jury duty from which the parties in a legal matter will select a smaller group to compromise the jury in the case

Void dire

French for "speak the truth". The process of questioning prospective jurors by a judge and lawyers in a criminal matter so that potential biases may be exposed before the members of the jury are selected

"For cause" strikes

A method of excluding potential jurors from jury service who have health problems, major scheduling conflicts, or preconceived opinions or judgements that render them unable to fairly and impartially decide cases

Peremptory Challenges

A method whereby lawyers exclude potential jurors from jury service by striking them during the voir dire process. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that prospective jurors may be stricken for any reason other than their race or gender

Directed Verdict

A type of motion made at the close of the prosecution's case-in-chief where the defense attorney argues that the prosecution failed to prove one or more of the elements of the criminal offense; thus the case should be dismissed without defense counsel needing to put on any evidence whatsoever

Writ of habeas corpus

Latin for "you have the body." Pursuant to this type of writ, a judge orders a prison official to bring the prisoner to court so that the judge may determine whether the prisoner is being imprisoned lawfully or whether the prisoner should be released

In a trial where the defendant was charged with robbery, the prosecutor may use "for cause" strikes to eliminate jurors who:

Believe the defendant is guilty because the defendant was arrested

According to the case of Brady v. Maryland the prosecutor is obligated to turn over __ to the defense, but is not obligated to search for it

Exculpatory evidence

Stare decisions is best explained as:

Relying on prior cases in making decisions

The following statements about trial informations are true:

A. do not contain any facts to support the charges since that would impede the jury's role as fact finder

B. they are legal documents filed by the government informing the defendant of the charges against him or her

C. are used widely in state courts but not federal courts because the Grand Jury Clause of the Fifth Amendment has not been incorporated into the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause

D. may be filed only after the defendant waives their Fifth Amendment rights since otherwise they are barred by the first clause in the Fifth Amendment

B and C

The following are accurate statements about a motion in limine:

A. motions in liminie are made prior to trial in an attempt to keep the jury from hearing/seeing certain pieces of evidence

B. may help attorneys better plan trial strategy, since knowing whether evidence will be admitted or not may influence whether certain witnesses are called to testify

C. may help attorneys better plan trial strategy, since knowing whether evidence will be admitted or not may influence whether certain witnesses are called to testify

D. the term "motion in liminie" means literally "to throw the evidence out the window"

A, B and C

Evidence which addresses an issue "of consequence," and verbally aimed to prove whether an element of an offense occurred is defined as:

Material

Concerning State v. Merrill, which of the following are true of the Nebraska Supreme Court decision?

A. The scale was held to be inadmissible because it was not material to the charge in question: manufacture of marijuana

B. the poster was held to be admissible as evidence due to its probative value and relevance in showing Merrill's guilt.

C. The poster was held to be inadmissible because it was not relevant to the manufacture of marijuana.

D. The scale was held to be relevant because is contributed materially to elements associated with marijuana manufacture.

A & B

Under rule 403, the state may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is significantly outweighed by a danger of which of the following?

A. Undue delay

B. Confusing the issues

C. Needlessly presenting cumulative evidence

D. Unfair prejudice

All of the above

When a piece of evidence is of high probative value, and the risk of danger or negative factors from the evidence's use are also high, the evidence will be:

A. Admitted

B. Excluded

C. Subpoenaed

D. None of the above

A

For evidence to have probative value it must have _ to make a purported fact more or less believable.

A. Considerable likelihood

B. A high degree of confidence

C. Greater than a fifty-fifty chance

D. Any tendancy

D

Briefing a case

A process in which a case in summarized for its most essential components

Case citation

A method of identifying the location of court decisions in reports or law reports for any given case.

What are the components of a case citation?

1. The name of the parties involves in the matter

2. The title of the report where the case is found, the volume and page number where the case is located in the report

3. The court that decided the case

4. The year the case was decided

Writ of certiorari

An order given from a higher court to a lower court to send up a case for review

Rule of four

A rule requiring four of nine justices to agree to grant a writ of certiorari

Majority opinion

A judicial opinion that is agreed to by more than half of the deciding judges in a case

En banc

Refers to those situations in which all of the judges of a court will hear a case rather than just a panel made up of a few judges of the court

Plurality opinion

Exists where the majority of judges agree with the result of the case but differ in their reasons for supporting the result.

The reasoning agreed to by the largest number of judges makes up what?

Plurality opinion

Concurring opinion

An opinion written by a judge who ultimately agrees with the decision made by the majority opinion but does so far different reasons

Dissenting opinion

If a judge does not agree with the majority opinion for a case, hey may provide a dissenting opinion that outlines the reasons for this disagreement

Precedent

Court findings that serve as rules of law or legal principles that subsequent courts can rely on when making decisions

Stare decisis

The doctrine that describes the process that occurs when judges draw on case precedent to decide cases before them

Affirmed

The court upheld the precious court's decision

Reversed

The court disagreed with the previous court's decision and set aside that court's findings

Vacated/Remanded

Based upon its decision, the court voided the prior court's decision and sent the case back to a lower court for further action

In a criminal matter, what is discover?

The process of providing the defendant copies of materials and evidence that the prosecution intends to use at trial.

Briefly describe the sorts of items or documents that are found in the discovery of a criminal case

1. Interrogatories

2. Requests for production

3. Requests for admission

4. Depositions