Pretrial / Trial Flashcards
(12 cards)
Grand Jury Proceedings
- Conducted in secret (D has no right to appear and no right to send in witnesses)
- No right to Miranda warnigns or counsel
- No right to have evidence excluded
Prosecutor’s Duty to Disclose Exculpatory Evidence
Failure to disclose material, exculpatory evidence is ground for reversing conviction if:
* Evidence is facorable to D; and
* Prejudice has resulted
Right to Trial by Jury
There is no constitutional right to jury trial for petty offenses, but only for serious offenses.
* An offense is serious if imprisonment for more than 6 months is authorized.
* Also, there is no right to jury trial in juvenile delinquency proceedings.
* Need minimum of 6 jurors
* Jury verdicts must be unanimous
Striking Jurors (For Cause)
Standard to determine whether a prospective juror should be excluded for cause is whether the jurors views would prevent or substantially impair the performance of our duties and our right to counsel
Waiving Right to Counsel (6th Amendment)
Defendant may waive right to counsel if:
* Waiver is knowing and intelligent
* D is competent to proceed pro se
Also have right to counsel on first appeal
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel (6th Amendment)
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel applies only after adversary judicial proceedings have begun
- Deficient performance by counsel
- But for the deficiency, there is a reaosnable probability that the result of the proceeding would have been different
- Need to specify particular errors counsel made
Right to Confront Witnesses (6th Amendment)
The Sixth Amendment grants to a defendant in a criminal prosecution the right to confront adverse witnesses. The right is not absolute:
* Face-to-face confrontation is not required when preventing such confrontation serves an important public purpose (for example, protecting child witnesses from trauma).
* Also, a judge may remove a disruptive defendant, and a defendant may voluntarily leave the courtroom during trial.
Ex: Child having to confont abuser
Introduction of Co-Defendant’s Confession (6th Amendment Right to Confront Witnesses)
If two persons are tried together and one has given a confession that implicates the other, the right of confrontation prohibits use of that statement, even where the confession interlocks with the defendant’s own confession, which is admitted. However, such a statement may be admitted if:
* All portions referring to the other defendant can be eliminated
* The confessing defendant takes the stand and subjects themself to cross-examination with respect to the truth or falsity of what the statement asserts; or
* The confession of the nontestifying co-defendant is being used to rebut the defendant’s claim that their confession was obtained coercively
Prior Testimonial Statement of Unavailable Witness (Confrontation Clause)
Under the Confrontation Clause, prior testimonial evidence (for example, statements made at prior judicial proceedings) may not be admitted unless:
* The declarant is unavailable; and
* The defendant had an opportunity to cross-examine the declarant at the time the statement was made
Burden of Proof
State must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt
* Exception: Affirmative defenses shift the burden of proof to the defendant
Right to Speedy Trial
The determination is made by an evaluation of the totality of the circumstances, and the following factors should be considered: (i) length of the delay, (ii) reason for the delay, (iii) whether the defendant asserted his right, and (iv) prejudice to the defendant.
* Delays caused by counsel assigned by the court to the defendant should ordinarily be attributed to the defendant and NOT to the state.
* The remedy for a violation of the constitutional right to a speedy trial is dismissal with prejudice.
* Defendant is NOT entitled to speedy trial relief for the period between the dismissal of charges and later refiling.
5th Amendment Right to Remain Silent
- The prosecution is not allowed to comment on the defendant’s failure to testify at trial, because the defendant is privileged under the Fifth Amendment to remain silent.
- A defendant’s refusal to cooperate with an investigation of the criminal conspiracy of which he was a member may properly be considered in imposing sentence. This is because the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent does not afford a privilege to refuse to incriminate others.
