Week 3 Summary WRITER RESPECT ONLY
CHAPTER 8
The Trial
Introduction
- First live, nationally televised trial in the United States occurred in 1991
- William Kennedy Smith
- Allowed public to watch entire trial process from jury selection through verdict
- Until then, public’s beliefs about trial process based on fictional TV trials
The Trial Process
Pretrial Motions
- Written or oral requests to the judge
- Ask judge to make a ruling or order that action be taken in favor of the applicant
- Made before opening statements or presentation of evidence
Types of Motions
- Dismissal of charges
- Nolle prosequi
- Change of venue
- Severance of defendants
- Severance of charges
- Discovery
- Bill of particulars
- Suppression of evidence
- Intention to provide an alibi
- Determination of competency
- Continuance
The Right to a Speedy, Public, and Fair Trial
- Sixth Amendment:
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury”
- Key questions:
- How soon after arrest must a trial be held?
- How much access should the public have?
- How do we ensure that the jury is untainted by prejudice?
The Right to a Speedy Trial
- “Justice delayed is justice denied”
- Seriousness of charge has the greatest influence on length of case processing
Defining the Limits of a Speedy Trial
- Federal/state governments have established rules limiting time between arrest and trial
- Barker v. Wingo – continuances do not necessarily infringe defendant’s right to speedy trial
- Speedy trial rules only affect time between arrest and start of trial
The Courts, the Public, and the Press
- Sixth Amendment guarantees right to a public trial
- Intended to ensure that accused is treated fairly by government by giving public full access to information regarding proceedings
- Does not define what makes a trial “public”
- Public trial means one that the public is free to attend
- Limits on number of people allowed/required determined by courtroom size
Public Trials
- Public’s right to attend
- Gannett Co., Inc. v. DePasquale: public and press could be barred from pretrial hearings
- Court has ruled that press and public should not be excluded from jury selection stage
- Freedom of press and pretrial publicity
- Gag orders may be issued by judges in high-profile cases
- Prior restraint should be used only when absolutely necessary
- Clear threat to the fairness of trial
- Threat is posed by the publicity to be restrained
- No less restrictive alternatives are available
Cameras in the Courtroom
- Florida first let TV cameras into courts in 1977
- All 50 states have rules permitting cameras in courts under certain circumstances
- Congress considering legislation that would permit cameras in all federal courts
Bench Trial Versus Jury Trial
- About 80% of defendants convicted at trial are convicted by juries, 20% convicted in bench trial
- Reasons to waive jury trial
- Crime is so heinous
- Unusual appearance of defendant
- Excessive media coverage
- Case is too complex
- Attorney fees may be lower
Constitutional Right to a Trial Jury
- Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a trial by an impartial jury
- Originally only applied to federal cases
- 1968 Supreme Court held that any serious crime that would qualify for a federal jury trial entitled defendant to right to jury trial in state court
- 1989 Court held that defendants do not have the right to a jury trial in minor cases carrying punishments of less than 6 months incarceration
Size of the Jury
- Most states, federal courts use 12-person juries
- Supreme Court ruling allows juries with fewer than 12 people
- Juries with 6 people constitutional except in death penalty cases
Jury Selection
- Eligibility for jury service
- U.S. citizenship
- 18 years or older
- Residence in the jurisdiction
- Possession of natural faculties
- Ordinary intelligence
- Knowledge of English language
- May be exempted because of occupation or duties within community
Jury Selection
- Jury pool: master list of names randomly selected from community
- Venire/jury panel: group selected from jury pool
- Voir dire: preliminary examination of potential jurors
Challenges
- Challenge for cause
- Call to dismiss a person from a jury panel for a legitimate cause
- No limit on number of challenges for cause
- Peremptory challenge
- Allows attorneys to eliminate people from the jury whom they believe are not likely to be sympathetic to their arguments
- Number of challenges limited by statute
Bias in Jury Selection
- Jury must be drawn from group representing a cross- section of the community
- No exclusion of any particular group of people
- Race: may not challenge potential jurors solely on account of race
- Gender: peremptory challenges based on gender unconstitutional
- Religion: constitutionality of peremptory challenges based on religion has not yet been resolved
The Trial
- Jury trials account for only 5% of criminal prosecutions today
- Most trials are routine, highly regulated, completed in hours or days
Opening Statements
- Occurs after jury is sworn in and seated, and formal charges have been read
- Prosecutor presents opening statement
- Purpose is to provide factual outline of case prosecutor intends to prove
- Commentary only; may not be considered by jury as evidence or facts in case
- Defense then has opportunity to make its opening statement
- Often delays until after prosecution’s case fully presented
Presentation of Evidence
- Evidence presented by witnesses
- Types of evidence
- Real evidence
- Testimonial evidence
- Direct evidence
- Circumstantial evidence
- Hearsay evidence
The Prosecution’s Case
- Prosecutor questions witnesses, introduces evidence
- Cross-examination by defense
- Discredit the witness by identifying inconsistencies or contradictions in the testimony
- Redirect and recross examination
- When prosecutor finishes presenting state’s evidence, the prosecution rests
- Defense may then ask for judgment of acquittal
- Claim that the state failed to establish that a crime was committed or that the defendant committed it
The Defense’s Case
- Defendant is innocent until proven guilty
- Prosecution must prove guilt to win a conviction
- Defense not required to present any case at all
- Defendant not required to testify
- Protected by Fifth Amendment: no one “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself”
- Defense attempts to cast doubt on prosecutor’s case and create reasonable doubt about guilt in minds of jurors
Rebuttal and Surrebuttal
- When defense has completed its case and cross-examination and redirect for the defense witnesses is complete, prosecutor may present additional evidence in a rebuttal to the defense’s case
- Witnesses called by the prosecutor may then be questioned by the defense and additional new evidence presented in surrebuttal
Closing Arguments
- After the defense rests, both sides present summations or closing arguments
- Prosecution presents first, followed by defense
- Prosecution allowed to make final rebuttal
Judicial Instruction
- Charge to the jury by judge
- Give guidelines for making decision
- Studies suggest that many jurors do not understand the judicial instructions
- Key instruction is presumption of innocence
- Burden of proof is on state
- Person presumed innocent until the state proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt
- Reasonable doubt: finder of fact must find evidence entirely convincing, must be satisfied beyond moral certainty of defendant’s guilt
Jury Deliberations
- After hearing the judge’s instructions, jury retires to the jury room to begin deliberation
- Jury may be sequestered in high-profile trials
- Hung jury
- Hung juries rare
- Judge may declare mistrial; prosecutor then decides whether to go to trial again
- Allen instructions
- Jury nullification
Judgment or Verdict
- Federal and most states require unanimous verdicts (only LA and OR allow nonunanimous decisions in non-death-penalty felony cases)
- Verdict read by court clerk
- Prosecutor or defense attorney may request that the jury be polled
Appeal of the Verdict
- State may not appeal “not guilty” verdict because of Fifth Amendment prohibition of double jeopardy
- Defense may appeal “guilty” verdict
- Appeal based on objections raised by defense at pretrial motions or trial
- Appeals may be rejected if based on harmless error
Other Postconviction Remedies
- Petition of habeas corpus
- Asks the federal court to release the defendant from an alleged illegal imprisonment or confinement by the state
- Supreme Court has put severe restrictions on conditions under which federal courts will hear such petitions
- Significantly reduced rights of prisoners to postconviction relief from judicial errors, wrongful imprisonment