Court System Exam 2

prosecutorial duties > Assisting law enforcement

• investigations and evidence needed

• determining probable cause (PC) is present

• assist with writing warrants for judge

who can sign warrants

Judges sign warrants, but also depending on the size of the jurisdiction any law enforcement higher up can sign such as sheriff, clerk, captain, and such

who drafts up warrants?

prosecutor

prosecutorial duties >Screening cases and making changing decisions

• 1/3 to ½ of all arrest are not formally prosecuted

• prosecutors’ offices do not have capacity to charge everyone arrested by police

• 3 factors influencing charging decisions, seriousness and nature of the offense, offenders’ culpability, likelihood of obtaining a conviction at trial

prosecutorial duties

• assisting law enforcement

• screening cases and making changing decisions

• plea bargaining

• disclosure of evidence

• prosecutorial misconduct

What are the 3 factors of influencing charging decisions?

1. seriousness and nature of the offense

2. offenders culpability

3. likelihood of obtaining a conviction at trial

Prosecutorial duties > plea bargaining

• appears in 95% of cases

• mutual decision with each side, in giving something up

• plead guilty (once pleading guilty, you cannot challenge or try to overturn it

Prosecutorial duties > disclosure of evidence

• prosecutors have an ethical, constitutional and statutory duty to disclose much of their evidence to the defense

• 3 classes of evidence required to disclose

  • testimony and physical evidence

  • exculpatory evidence

  • impeachment evidence

Prosecutorial duties > prosecutorial misconduct

the duty of the prosecutor is to social justice not just convict

• wrong to convict an innocent person

• wrong to convict a guilty person by violating their constitutional rights

brady v maryland (1963)

this is when exculpatory evidence was based on, must disclose material evidence has reasonable chance of changing result

What are the classes of evidence required to disclose?

testimony and physical evidence, exculpatory evidence, and impeachment

exculpatory evidence

evidence favorable to the defendant

impeachment evidence

evidence that calls into question the credibility of witnesses

Defense attorneys

• represent the accused/defendant

• individuals have right to be represented by an equally skilled advocate

• 6th amendment - right to counsel

• have ethical obligation to zealously defend a client, regardless of their guilt

6th amendment

right to counsel

Indigent defense system

1. assigned counsel programs

2. contract attorney programs

3. public defender programs

Indigent defense system > Assigned counsel program

• employ private attorneys to represent poor defendant

• appointed on a case by case basis or taken from a list of attorneys

Indigent defense system > Contract attorney programs

state/county government enter into contract with one or more private attorneys, law firms, or non-profit organizations to provide representation. There are fixed price programs and fixed fee per case contract

Fixed price program

Agree to accept unknown number of cases during a contract period for a single flat rate

fixed fee per case contract

agree to a specific number of cases to be handled for a fixed fee per case

Public defender programs

• public or nonprofit organizations

• directly employ staff attorneys whose sole jobs is to provide representation to indigent defendants

• employs full time investigators, support staff and have a budget to hire expert witness (funded by public funds such as city/county)

• predominantly used in larger jurisdictions

• cases are usually assigned based on attorneys experience and the seriousness/complexity of the charges

private v. appointed counsel (defense attorneys)

• perspective of clients - private attorneys provide better assistance

  • some see appointed attorneys as working for the government

• research suggests private attorneys

  • spend more time with clients

  • file more motions

  • attend more hearings

  • meet with family more often

What are Judges?

public officers that hear legal disputes, administer the law, and preside over courts of justice

Judges > roles and duties

• pre-arrest work

• post arrest and pretrial roles

• Judical roles attrial

Judges > roles and duties > Pre-arrest work

• signs search and arrest warrants

• plain view by judges?

Judges > roles and duties > Post arrest and pretrial roles

• judges oversee initial appearances and inform defendants

• bail/bond decisions

• once formally charged/arraigned a case is assigned to a judge

Judges > roles and duties > Judicial roles at trial

• preside over jury trials

  • rule on admissibility of evidence, objections instruct jury

  • judges have a duty to consider sufficiency of evidence - if sufficient, judge can direct a verdict of acquittal

  • trial judges must safeguard both the rights of the accused and interests of the public

What are prosecutors?

they are state/government representatives to criminal court processes. They also have an active role in investigation, arrest, prosecution, and sentencing

Federal prosecutors

• U.S. Attorney general

• U.S. Attorneys

• Assistant U.S. attorneys - day to day work

State prosecutors

often decentralized system

most criminal cases

district attorney

assistant district / assistant prosecutors

Prosecutor duties > Non prosecutorial duties

• provide legal advice/ assistance to elected official agencies

• juvenile and dependency matters

• child support enforcement

• victim assistance

• civil assist for forfeiture (seizing belongings involved in a crime)

decisional accountability

holding judges answerable for judicial ruling, must be biased on law and precedent

Gideon V. Wainwright

in 1961, ____ went to court for charges he was accused of, because he was a indigent defendant and requested counsel judge denied him that because to be appointed counsel you have to be charged with a capital charge, and in the state of Florida they don’t appoint counsel to lesser charges. Gideon was his own lawyer he was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years, Gideon then wrote letters to the US Supreme court and they heard his case and he was represented by one of the most prestigeous lawyer and he won the case and his conviction was overturned

US v Gonzalez-Lopez

family hired one lawyer (Fahle), but Gonzalez-Lopez wanted another lawyer (Low). After arraignment there was an edvidentely hearing, and Low was caught passing notes to Fahle and dafter this when Gonzalez-Lopez decided he only wanted 1 lawyer and for that lawyer to be Low the judge denied it, even with GL new lawyer Low petitioned to sit with new counsel during trial and judge denied this because of the note passing.Gonzalez was convicted. Gonzalez-Lopez appealed all the way to the supreme court and and with thesupeme justices they decided yes his 6th amendment right was violated because he wasn’t an indigent defendant and he wanted a lawyer of his choosing and he couldn’t have it, it was ruled in his favor and his conviction was overturned

Judicial Accountability

involves the ability of an entity to remove or discipline judges who do not preform their jobs appropriately

state judicial selection

4 methods (appointment, partisan, nonpartisan elections, and merit selection plans)

Mapp V. Ohio

any evidence obtained in a search in violation with the 4th amendment right well be considered inadmissible. In 1961 court decised evidence is inadmissible and is in violation of 4th amendment rights because a search warrant couldn’t be signed off due to lack of supporting evidence

Subpoena

court order requiring appearance at trial/court

Speedy Trial

6th amendment, difficult to quantify “____”, congress and states have created some standards time of arrest to arraignments (in custody 60-90 days, not in custody 90-120 days)

Jury Instructions

Jury Size

Challenges for Cause

Hearsay

Out of court statements made by witnesses who are not testifying at trial

• generally inadmissible because defendant cannot confront or cross examine them

challenges faced by crime victims

• lack of input on decisions

• lack of information about crimes

• pretrial/trial revictimization and invasion of privacy

• logistical and financial obstacles

Rise of victims’ rights movement

• 1970 and 1980

• 1982 federal govt established the office for victims of crime

• 1982 CA was 1st state - victims bill of rights most commonly

  • right to be informed

  • right to attend

  • right to be heard - victim impact statement

confrontation clause

2 concepts

• right to confront one’s accusers face to face

• right to cross examine witness called by prosecution

• 6th amendment

• defendats have right to confront witness

Cross Examination 

2 disgives defendants ability to challenge testimony against them