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COURTS (Trial courts of limited jurisdiction
Criminal courts with trial…
COURTS
Trial courts of limited jurisdiction
- Criminal courts with trial jurisdiction over misdemeanor cases and preliminary matters in felony cases.
- Sometimes these courts hold felony trials that may result in penalties below a specific limit (rare).
Trial courts of general jurisdiction
- Criminal courts with jurisdiction over all offenses, including felonies.
- In some states, these courts also hear appeals
Appellate Courts
- Courts that do not try criminal cases, but hear appeals of decisions of lower courts
Supreme Courts
- Known as "courts of last resort"
- Each state has one
- U.S. supreme court is THE court of last resort.
Problem solving courts
- Lower-Level local courts dedicated to addressing particular social problems or troubled populations
- e.x. drug courts, domestic violence courts and mental health courts
The plea
- one fo the most important mechanisms in the court system
- allows for convention in cases that may be questionable if they go to trial
Pleas with bargaining
Negotiation process:
- multiple offense
- level of offense
- threat of jury trial
- delay- mechanism used by both prosecution and defense
Pleas without bargaining
- "implicit plea bargaining" - it happened
- evidence is very strong
- no question of fact
- agreement on charges/punishments
Legal issues
- Boykin V. Alabama (1969)- voluntary, a signed form saying they understand
- Missouri V. Frye (2012)- must inform of plea
- North Carolina V. Alford (1970) - taking a plea but not admitting guilt
- Bordenkircher V. Hayes (1978) - may threaten with more serious charges
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Prosectors:
- local prosecuting attorneys- limited or general courts
- state attorney general- state jurisdiction
- U.S. attorneys- federal cases in original courts and appellate courts
Trial counsel for the police
- Prosecutors who see their main function in this light believe that they should reflect the views of law enforcement in the court room and take a crime-fighter stance in public
House counsel for the police
- These prosecutors believe that their main function is to give legal advice so that arrests will stand up in court
Representative of the court
- Such prosectors believe that their main function is to enforce rules of due process to ensure that the police act according to the law and uphold the rights of defendants
Elected Official
- These prosectors may be most responsive to public opinion.
- The political impact of their decisions is one of their main concerns
Discovery
- prosectors pretrial disclosure to the defense of facts and evidence to be introduced at trial.
noelle prosequi
- an entry, made by a prosector on the record of a case and announced in court, indicating that the charges specified will not be prosecuted
- In effect, the charges are thereby dismissed
Discretion of the prosecutor
- because they have such broad discretion, prosectors can shape their decisions to fit different interest.
- Decisions from prosectors also may also stem from their personal values and priorities.
Key relationships:
- police
- victims
- judges/courts
- community
- defense
- 1 more item...
Private Attorney
- finding a lawyer and paying them to take your case
Assigned counsel
- an attorney in private practice assigned by a court to represent an indigent
- the attorneys fee is paid by the government with jurisdiction over the case
Contract counsel
- an attorney in private practice who contracts with the government to represent all indigent defendants in a county during a set period of time and for a specified price
Public defender
- an attorney employed on a full-time salaried basis by a public or private nonprofit organization to represent indigents
Right to counsel
- 6th amendment right for those who risk imprisonment
- Gideon V. Wainwright (1963)- provision in state court
- Miranda V. Arizona (1966)- rights before questioning
- Ross V. Moffit (1974) - not entitled for discretionary appeals if the first in unsuccessful
Courtroom work group
- local legal culture- shared value and expectations of participants
- "going rates"- idea of value or worth to certain behavior/crime and worth is valued out by punishment
- consistancy
The trial
- jury
Bench trial
- judge determines issue of law
- emotionally or legally difficult cases
Types of evidence
- demonstrative - weapons, diagrams, fingerprints
- Direct - eye witness accounts, testimony
- Circumstantial - may tie an individual to a crime but can have external explanations
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