Justice
Chapter 10
Pretrial Activities
and the Criminal
Trial
Thursday, January 10th
Pretrial Activities
First Appearance

Defendants first time at coming in contact
with an officer (magistrate or lower court
judge) of the court
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Given formal notice of charges
Advised of their rights
Opportunity to retain a lawyer or to have one
appointed to them
Opportunity for bail
Release of an accused person
from custody, for all or part of
the time before or during
prosecution, on his / her promise
to appear in court when required.

If defendant is dangerous to self or others,
charged with serious crimes, and possible escapees
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Held in jail until trial = pretrial detention
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Seriousness of charge
Prior criminal record
Info. about defendant
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Community / family ties
Employment status
Substance abuse problems
Available supervisory options if
released
What are your options?
Bail
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Most common release/detention
mechanism
Two purposes
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
Ensure reappearance of the accused
Prevents unconvicted individual from suffering
unnecessary imprisonment
Bail Bond
–
Document guarantees appearance of
defendant in court
8th Amendment to U.S.
Constitution
does not guarantee the
opportunity for bail but does
state that “excessive bail
shall not be required.”

Release on Recognizance
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Manhattan Bail Project – 1960’s
Property bond
Deposit bail (Court plays role of
bail bondsman)
Conditional release
Third party custody
Unsecured bond – no monetary
deposit – failure to appear result in
forfeiture of entire amount of bond

Signature bond
Alternatives to Bail
Pretrial Release and Public Safety

Defendants released before trial
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_____% state level felony criminal defendants
_____% federal felony defendants
____% defendants rearrested prior to trial
–
_____% arrested more than once
Danger Law – limits right to bail with certain
kinds of offenders
Duane “Dog” Chapman – Bounty
Hunter International
Grand Jury

Often 23 private citizens

Hear evidence from prosecution

Filters to eliminate further processing cases
with not enough evidence
England = 1166
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Initially way of identifying law violators
Held in secret
?
Preliminary Hearing
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Used in place of a grand jury
Prosecutor files complaint against accused
(information)
Similar to but not as complex as criminal trial
Primary purpose = give defendant
opportunity to challenge legal basis for
detention
Arraignment and the Plea

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First appearance of the defendant before the
court that has the authority to conduct a trial
Brief – two purposes
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
Inform defendant of specific charges
Allow defendant to enter a plea
Plea
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Guilty
Not guilty
Nolo contendere (similar to guilty plea) 315
Stand Mute = not guilty
Plea Bargaining

Process of negotiation
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Benefit to prosecutor
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Defendant, prosecutor, and defense counsel
Additional advantage of a quick conviction without
need to commit time and extra resources for a trial
Benefit to accused
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Reduce / combine charges
Lessen defense cost
Shorter than anticipated sentence
Eric Rudolph
Vocabulary…
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Group of two
Enough papers for vocabulary
Create notecards…Visual on each
THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Rules of Evidence
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Court rules that govern admissibility of evidence
at trials
Nature and Purpose of Criminal Trial
Purpose
–
Determination of defendant’s guilt (factual vs.
legal or innocence)
Friday, January 11th
Criminal Trial Process
Adversarial System
Who is Joe Lloyd? Pg. 427
Can you convince the
judge or jury that
your perspective is
the right one?
Stages of a Criminal Trial
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Trial initiation
Jury selection
Opening statements
Presentation of evidence
Closing arguments
Judge’s charge to the jury
Jury deliberations
verdict
Speedy Trial Act
 6th
amendment – “in all
criminal prosecutions, the
accused shall enjoy the right to
a speedy and public trial”
Requires that proceedings
against a defendant in a criminal
case begin within a specified
period of time, such as 70
working days after indictment.
Klopfer v. North Carolina
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U.S. Supreme Court case held that the
right to a speedy trial is a
fundamental guarantee of the
Constitution.
Duke University Professor
Civil disobedience in a protest against
segregated facilities.
Indictment or
Information
to be made within 30
days of arrest.
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Trial to happen within
70 working days of
indictment
May be extended up to
180 days …
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Witnesses cannot be
called
Defendant is not
available for trial
Outcome – “Common
Fex v. Michigan
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Indiana prisoner
1993
Appealed conviction of
armed robbery &
attempted murder
charges
Claim – had to wait
196 days
sense compels the
conclusion that the 180day period does not
commence until the
prisoner’s disposition
request has actually
been delivered to
the court and the
prosecutor of the
jurisdiction that lodged
the detainer against him.
Jury Selection

3 types of challenges recognized in criminal
courts
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Challenges to the array

Belief that the pool from which potential jurors are to be
selected is not representative of the
community or biased
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Challenges for cause

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Individual juror can’t be fair or impartial
Peremptory challenges

Right to challenge a potential juror without disclosing the
reason for the challenge.
Peremptory Challenges
Numerical limitation = 20 in capital cases
and as few as three in minor cases
 Powers vs. Idaho
 Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co.
 Georgia v. McCollum
 Campbell v. Louisiana
(Race and the jury factor
in the above cases)

Opening Statements

Initial statement of the
prosecution or the
defense, made in a court
of law to a judge, or to a
judge and jury,
describing the facts
that he or she intends to
present during trial to
prove the case.
Presentation of Evidence

Types of Evidence
Direct evidence
– Circumstantial evidence – requires
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interpretation as to what the evidence indicates
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Real evidence
Dying Declaration
 Allows
for hearsay
testimony when
someone knows they
are dying
 Judge
decides what
evidence can be presen
in a case
Cases to know
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Fex v. Michigan
Coy v. Iowa
Powers v. Ohio
Idaho v. Wright