Criminal Courts - Exam 3 - Chapter 10

Arrest

• The criminal process begins either with the filing of a complaint (a charging document) or an arrest 

• If an arrest is made first, a complaint is filled after wards ( by the arresting officer) 

• If a complaint is filed first, an arrest warrant is approved by a judge, allowing law enforcement to arrest the individual. 

• For an arrest to occur, a police officer must have probable cause to believe:

  • A crime has been committed 

  • That the person being arrested committed the crime/was involved in the criminal activity 

• The facts relied on by the police officer to create probable cause are in an affidavit ( affidavit of probable cause) 

• Summarizes the evidence and facts/circumstances of arrest.

Booking

• Once arrested, defendants are “booked” at the arresting officer’s station or sometimes the local jail 

At booking:

• Record who is arrested 

• The time of the alleged offense 

• Facts involved 

• Fingerprints 

• Photographs 

• Depending on numerous circumstances, the suspect may be: 

  • Promotyl is released following booking 

  • Held in jail until an initial appearance/ bail determination by a judge 

• Regardless of whether suspects are released pending an initial appearance, prosecutors at this time “screen cases” to make charging decisions. 

Charging Decisions

• The most critical decisions made by a prosecutor- whether to prosecute (or charge) an individual with alleged offenses 

• Maxim discretion at a largely invisible stage in the process.

  • board/ no legislative or judicial guidelines 

  • Immune from judicial review

Factors guiding charging decisions (legal)

• Many studies examining factors impacting charging decisions find that, overall, prosecutors typically only file charges when the odds of convictions are high 

• The odds of conviction (or convictability) are primarily based on several legal factors, including;

  • Seriousness of the alleged offenses 

  • Strength of evidence 

  • Culpability of defendants 

Factors guiding charging decisions (non-legal) 

• Race of suspects 

  • Charging is more likely if the defendant is non-white 

Racial composition and relationship of suspect and victim 

• Charging is more likely if the defendant is Black and the victim is white 

Gender of suspect 

• Charging is more likely if the defendant is male

Employment 

• Charging is more likely if the defendant is unemployed. 

Decision not to prosecute 

• Prosecutors reject a significant percentage of cases at screening 

• In New York City, 43% of felony arrests were dismissed ( Vera Institute of Justice, 1977) 

• A 2001, study looking at charging decisions of sexual assault cases found that 

50.6% of cases were dismissed in Philadelphia

▪ 42.5% in Kansas City

▪ 41.4% in Miami

Reasons for rejecting cases 

• Believes that the suspect is not gulity of the charged crime. 

• Believes the individual charged with the crime is guilty, but conviction unlikely ( for example, lack of witnesses and or weakness of evidence).

Initial appearance 

• Once a suspect is arrested and booked, they are brought before a lower court juge for a first/initial appearance 

  • These hearings typically occur within 48 hours of arrest 

  • Note in PA: this first appearance proceeding is referred to as a “preliminary arraignment”

During initial appearance, judges: 

• Advise the suspect why they are being detained and explain their rights ( right to trial by jury and right to counsel) 

• Read charges filed against and potential penalty 

• May ask defendants to enter an initial plea

• Bail decisions may be made at the initial appearance or at a separate bail hearing scheduled soon after (varies).

Bail decisions 

• The judge must decide whether to grant bail, and if so, the type and amount 

• Judges assess relevant case factors (nature and seriousness of offenders and ties to the community) and risk of flight and harm to others 

• Examples of bail types.”

  • Full cash- the full amount must be posted/ paid in cash 

  • Cash with a 10% option - 10% of the set bail amount must be posted in cash (90% must be paid in case of non-appearance) 

  • Release on own recongizne (ROR) - no money is posted 

  • Property bond -  a lien is placed against real property that is posted as a property bail bond. 

• High risk? Bail may bot be granted 

  • There is no constitutional right to bail - 8th Amendment solely states that bail ot be “excessive” 

  • Lower risk? The suspect may either be ROR’d or required to pay Monterey bail 

Indictment or Information?

• Depending on the jurisdiction and charges, defendants are formally charged (probable cause is established) either through an indictment or information 

Information 

• Written statement filed by a prosecutor stating the case (facts in the case and elements of the offence charged) 

• More efficient than an indictment because there is no need to organize a grand jury and present evidence 

• Judges make decisions about probable cause 

  • Typically, during a preliminary hearing held post initial appearances

Pre- trial motions

• Paperwork filed by either side (defense or prosecutor) stating the grounds on which the motion is based and the type of relief requested 

• Motions are rules made by the judge and are important as they may have a tremendous impact on cases 

Examples of pre-trial motions 

• Dismissal of charges 

  • Grounds: legality of arrest (no probable cause) and insufficient evidence

Change of venue 

• May be filed by the defense due to extensive and prejudicial pretrial publicity in the case 

  • Example: Boston Marathon bomber 

Discovery 

• Defense requests available information (documents, evidence, and witnesses) from the prosecutor that will be used in the trial 

Suppression of evidence 

• Exclude evidence obtained through illegal search or interrogation 

• “Fruit of the poisonous tree” - inadmissible 

Guilty pleas

• Most criminal convictions result from guilty pleas:

▪ 94% of state-level felony convictions & 97% of federal convictions

▪ A guilty plea occurs when a defendant admits to committing a crime & can be entered without any type of plea bargaining (i.e., the defendant pleas guilty to the original charges accused of

without bargaining with the state).

Pleas bargaining 

• In many cases, guilty pleas are reached through “plea bargaining.” 

  • Also referred to as ‘plea deals and plea agreements 

According to Feeley (1992), plea bargaining is: 

• “Based on the premise that a defendant will exchange the uncertainties and costs of going to trial and the possibility of a lengthy sentence for the certainty of a fixed outcome which guarantees a less severe sanction than would have been imposed if he had been convicted after trial” 

• “In return, the state saves time and expense of having to mount a trial” 

Common forms of plea bargaining 

• Charge reductions 

  • Reduce the number/ types of charges in exchange for a guilty plea ( which leads to a less punitive sentence) 

Sentence agreements

• Defendant pleads guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence recommendation from the prosecutor at sentencing 

• Note: not a guarantee that the defendant will receive the recommended sentence - judges have the authority to reject the agreement 

Arguments in favor of plea bargaining 

• Necessary to maintain the efficiency of the court 

  • Allows many cases to be disposed of quickly 

• Resourceful way of dealing with cases - prosecutor and defense attorneys (especially public defenders) have limited resources

Arguments against plea bargaining 

• Undermines the integrity of the CJ system 

  • Prosecutors are not required to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt 

  • Defendant does not get the opportunity to cross- examine witnesses and test a prosecutor’s case 

• Prosecutors overcharge to secure guilty pleas 

• “Innocence problem” - defendants, some of whom may be innocent, are pressured into pleading guilty

Attempts to restrict / ban plea bargaining

• Several jurisdictions have attempted to restrict/eliminate plea bargaining 

• In 1975, Alaska banned all forms of plea bargaining - prosecutors could not reduce or dismiss charges in exchange for guilty pleas and were not allowed to recommend sentences if the defendant agreed to plead guilty 

  • Results? The number of defendants pleading guilty stayed the same as before, and the number of trials did not dramatically increase 

  • Takeaway? The court can be efficient without plea bargaining 

• In Brooklyn, plea bargaining cannot take place after 74 days of indictment 

• In the Bronx, plea bargaining is banned if the defendant is indicted by a grand jury for a felony offense 

The impact of race on plea bargaining 

• Limited research in the area - the plea-bargaining process occurs behind closed doors in private 

• Generally, study findings are mixed 

  • Smae research points to the idea that these decisions are influenced by the strength of the evidence, criminal history, and seriousness of the offense (legally relevant factors) 

  • Some research finds evidence suggesting that race plays a role

▪ White defendants are offered plea bargains more frequently & get better deals (e.g., charge reductions, charge dismissals, incarceration alternatives).