clas 14: courtroom workgroup, roles, and plea bargaining

state courts

state court systems not handle about 100 million new cases annually, leading to delay and congestion

• this magnitude is time-consuming, costly, and impacted every element of court processing

judges

• APPROPRIATENESS OF CONDUCT

• SETTLE QUESTIONS OF EVIDENCE AND PROCEDURE

• GUIDE THE QUESTIONING OF WITNESSES

• INSTRUCT JURORS

• DECIDE CASES

• SENTENCING

• ARE GENERALLY ELECTED IN THE U.S .; SOMETIMES APPOINTED

• presiding over trial and plea deals (accept or thrown out)

• rule over sentencing ex in a jury trial they still decided the length of sentence

the prosecutor (state’s attorney) (district attorney)

an appointed or elected member of the practicing bar who is responsible for bringing the state’s case against the accused

• decide what criminal charge person had been arrested for

elected pros

country, city (political figure) - other pros hired underneath them

the prosecutor (duties)

• INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE VIOLATIONS OF THE LAW

• COOPERATING WITH POLICE IN INVESTIGATING A CRIME

• DETERMINING WHAT THE CHARGE WILL BE

• INTERVIEWING WITNESSES IN CRIMINAL CASES

• SUBPOENAING WITNESSES

• ENTERING INTO PLEA BARGAINING NEGOTIATIONS

• TRYING CRIMINAL CASES – REPRESENTS “ THE STATE ”

• RECOMMENDING SENTENCES

prosecutorial discretion

the prosecutor’s authority to decide whether to bring a case to trial or to dismiss it outright

why pros wouldnt want to take something trial

• flimsy evidence

• case isnt a priority

• charge: mis or felony

ex. COVID: pros stopped charging 5th degree drug possession

• waste of time/court shouldnt be dealing with it

• cops would arrest but pros didnt charge

  • mixed reaction from cops

In criminal court, it is not the “victim’s” case– the victim of the crime is a

witness, and may be compelled to testify, but cannot directly control whether criminal charges go forward

• it is not your case

• your dont want a case charged → pros still can go forward with it

  • forward = why: evidence is overwhelming (BaRD)

the defense attorney

legal counsel for the defendant in a criminal case

defense attorney: the right to counsel begins at

the earliest stages of the justice system

indigent defendant

A defendant who lacks the funds to hire a private attorney is entitled to free counsel

public defender

An attorney employed by the government to represent criminal defendants who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer

defense attorneys duties

• INVESTIGATING THE INCIDENT

• INTERVIEWING THE CLIENT, POLICE, AND WITNESSES

• DISCUSSING THE MATTER WITH THE PROSECUTOR

• REPRESENTING THE DEFENDANT

• ENTERING INTO PLEA NEGOTIATION

• PEPARING THE CASE FOR TRIAL

• FILING AND ARGUING LEGAL MOTIONS WITH THE COURT

• REPRESENTING THE DEFENDANT AT TRIAL

• PROVIDING ASSISTANCE AT SENTENCING

• DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATE BASIS FOR APPEAL

resources pros v PD’s

• pros: they deal with everyone

• pd: dont deal with everyone

• differences in salary + resources effects them)

• funding disparities

• “fewer resources than those who represent the govt. in cali, pros are annually allocated a billion dollars more than pd”

resources pros v PD’s example

travis pd:

• fingerprints taken but not tested (pay for it)

• no resources to test, had to trick DA/Pros to get it tested for it

the courtroom work group

the interdependence between judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys; also the practices and outcomes that result from this culture of teamwork

• interdependent on each other

• culture of cooperation/culture of framework

• PD wants to slow things down → it effects everything (thinking what cases are worth the loss of cred when it comes to pissing up children)

courtroom work group: public pretender

client doesnt get as big as a output from pd and its going somewhere else/to other case

plea bargaining video

• pros + pd trying to hash things out b4 trial

• access to waive rights

• plead guilty of lesser charge so they dont get higher charge

• pb is recent in history → crim jus sys couldnt handle all cases

• charged selling right + less charge to pros

• accused is getting on with their life

• line between cohesive and voluntary pleas is diff

plea deals

• Innocent people may plead guilty

• Guilty people may plead guilty to trumped up charges

• WHY? Jail/Bail Lengthy sentences

  • long (awaiting trial)

  • trails risky, lot of work and resources

  • cohesion - pros discretion to charge -- change more severity → plea barg → def tells they can get it down to one if plea (pros can set terms between the plea bargaining agreement b4 the p deals are event sent)

  • afraid of what trial might bring up