Intro To Law Final


The Amendments



  1. Freedom of Speech

  2. The right to bear arms

  3. No quartering of soldiers without consent of owner

  4. No unreasonable search or seizure

  5. Rights of the Accused

  6. Right to Speedy Trial

  7. Right to Trial by Jury

  8. No excessive bail no cruel unusual punishment

  9. Powers reserved to the people

  10. Powers reserved to the States

Vocabulary





Basic sequence in the trial process: 



1. Judge enters and takes the bench. 

2. Preliminary motions are addressed by the judge. (e.g., Is certain evidence admissible?)

3. Voir dire (questioning by the attorneys and judge to ensure an impartial jury) conducted to jury pool (if jury trial). Jury selected. 

4. Clerk calls the case. 



5. Prosecutor/plaintiff makes an opening statement. 

a. Defense makes an opening statement. 

b. Prosecutor/plaintiff presents case: 

c. Prosecutor/plaintiff calls the first witness and conducts direct examination. 

d. Defense cross examines the witness. 

e. Optional – Prosecutor/plaintiff conducts a redirect examination. 

f. Optional – Defense conducts a recross-examination. 

g. Steps a, b, c, and d completed for each of the prosecution’s/plaintiff’s other      witnesses. 

h. Prosecutor/plaintiff rests the case after all prosecution/plaintiff witnesses have taken the stand. 



6. Defense presents case in same manner as prosecution/plaintiff in #5 above: 

a. Defense calls first witness and conducts direct examination. 

b. Prosecutor/plaintiff cross examines the witness. 

c. Optional – Defense conducts a redirect examination. 

d. Optional – Prosecutor/plaintiff conducts a recross-examination. 

e. Steps a, b, and c completed for each of the defense’s other witnesses. 

f. Defense rests the case after all defense witnesses have taken the stand. 



7. Prosecutor/plaintiff makes a closing argument. 

8. Defense makes a closing argument. 

9. Prosecutor/plaintiff offers any rebuttal argument. 



10. Jury instructions (if jury trial). 

11. Jury/judge deliberations. 



12. Verdict/decision/judgment.

13. Order (civil trial) issued/sentence (if found guilty in a criminal trial) imposed.



Evidence

  1. Types: Testimony, Documents, Physical Evidence, Expert Testimony, Circumstantial 



Rules of Evidence

  1. Argumentative: Argumentative questions challenge the truthfulness of a witness’ testimony without reason or seeking new information.

  2. Asked and answered: Every question must ask for new information. An attorney cannot ask for the same information again to emphasize a point. 

  3. Badgering: Attorneys are said to be badgering a witness when they treat them rudely, often not allowing time to answer questions asked before asking another. Other times the attorney might be provoking or mocking a witness. 

  4. Compound questions: Attorneys may not ask two or more questions joined together (usually with the words and/or/also). This can confuse the witness and the jury and lead to misunderstanding

  5. Firsthand knowledge/speculation: Witnesses must have directly seen, heard, or experienced the events they are testifying about. A lack of firsthand knowledge is objectionable. Often witnesses speculate (guess or assume) about something that happens even though they did not actually witness the behavior. Speculation is also objectionable because it is not firsthand knowledge. 

  6. Hearsay: Hearsay is a statement made outside the courtroom by a person who is not the testifying witness and is offered to prove the truth of what is in the statement without the person who made the statement having to testify and be cross-examined about it. Hearsay evidence is objectionable. 

  7. Leading question: A leading question suggests the answer desired by the questioner, usually by stating some facts not previously discussed and then asking the witness to give a “yes” or a “no” answer. Leading questions may not be asked on direct or redirect examination. However, leading questions are permissible and should be used on cross-examination.

  8. Narration: Narration occurs when the witness provides more information than the question called for. Witnesses’ answers must respond to the questions, but not go beyond them. A narrative answer is objectionable.

  9. Opinion: Unless a witness is qualified as an expert in the appropriate field, such as medicine or ballistics, the witness may not give an opinion about matters relating to that field. 

  10. Outside the scope of direct/cross-examination: Attorneys may only ask questions on cross examination about testimony raised during direct examination. Likewise, attorneys may only ask questions in redirect examination about testimony raised during cross-examination.

  11. Relevance: Questions and answers must relate to the subject matter of the case; this is called relevance. Evidence is relevant if it tends to make a fact that is in issue in the case more or less likely to be true. Questions or answers that do not relate to the case are irrelevant. Irrelevant questions or answers are objectionable.