Civil Rights in Criminal Trials: A Comprehensive Overview, Slides of Criminal Justice

Download Civil Rights in Criminal Trials: A Comprehensive Overview and more Slides Criminal Justice in PDF only on Docsity! The Criminal Trial docsity.com Civil Rights During Trial • The Right to be Competent at Trial – Defendants must be mentally competent to understand the nature and extent of legal proceedings – Courts may force defendants to receive treatment so they can be tried • Important governmental interest must be at stake • Must significantly further state interests • Other less intrusive treatments unlikely to achieve substantially the same results • Must be medically appropriate docsity.com Civil Rights During Trial (cont.) • Right to Counsel at Trial • May choose to represent self (pro se) – Waiver must be made knowingly and intelligently – Court may refuse to allow if defendant not believed competent to waive right – No right to self-representation in appeals docsity.com Civil Rights During Trial (cont.) • The Right to a Speedy Trial – No set time which defines the term – Supreme Court considers a fundamental right: • Improves the credibility of the trial • Avoids lengthy pretrial detentions • Avoids extensive pretrial publicity and other conduct that may interfere with fair trial • Delay may adversely affect defendant’s ability to defend themselves docsity.com Civil Rights During Trial (cont.) • Public Trials – Sixth Amendment guarantees a speedy and public trial – Designed to ensure fairness of the proceedings – Both the press and public may attend trials docsity.com The Trial Process • Formal process conducted in a specific and orderly fashion according to rules of criminal law • Structured adversary proceeding • Each side seeks to present its case favorably docsity.com The Trial Process (cont.) • Jury Selection – Jurors randomly selected from voter registration or licensing lists (called a “venire”) Few states impose qualifications on jurors – Usually prohibit convicted felons from serving – Venire – initial list of persons chosen docsity.com The Trial Process (cont.) – Voir Dire • French for “to tell the truth” • Questioned by prosecutor, defense, and sometimes the judge about their background, occupations, residences, and knowledge or interest in the case docsity.com The Trial Process (cont.) • Opening Statements – Prosecutor then defense makes an opening statement – Statements are designed to provide an overview of each sides case to the jury – Must not contain prejudicial remarks, inflammatory statements, or mention irrelevant facts docsity.com The Trial Process (cont.) • Witness Testimony – Direct examination: the questioning of one’s own (prosecution or defense) witness during a trial – Cross examination: interrogation of opposing sides’ witnesses during the trial – Witnesses are restricted to factual information – Only expert witnesses may offer opinions based on their training and expertise docsity.com The Trial Process (cont.) • Types of Evidence at a Criminal Trial – Testimonial evidence – Real evidence – Documentary evidence – Circumstantial evidence • To be admissible evidence must be relevant docsity.com The Trial Process (cont.) • Closing Arguments – Used to review facts and evidence – Prosecution and defense can draw reasonable inferences from evidence – Cannot refer to matters not in evidence – Cannot comment on defendant’s refusal to testify docsity.com The Trial Process (cont.) • Instructions to the Jury – Judge’s responsibility – Provides jury with information about the law – Elements of the crime – Evidence required for proof – Burden of proof required – Improper instructions are often the basis for an appeal docsity.com The Trial Process (cont.) • The Verdict – While not constitutionally required, most verdicts must be unanimous – If the jury has only six members, a unanimous verdict is required – Hung jury: jurors cannot reach a verdict. Defendant may be retried. – Guilty verdict: judge will normally set a date for sentencing and ask for a presentence investigation report – Not guilty: defendant is free and may not be retried. docsity.com