Rights of Criminal
Defendants
The Rights of Criminal
Defendants
O Due process rights
O Procedural guarantees provided by the
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments
for those accused of crimes
O Warren Court made several provisions of the
Bill of Rights dealing with the liberties of
criminal defendants (those charged but not
yet tried) applicable to the states through the
Fourteenth Amendment.
Fourth Amendment
O “The right of the people to be secure in
their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no Warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing
the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.”
Fourth Amendment
O Over the years, the Court has interpreted
the Fourth Amendment to allow the
police to search:
O The person arrested
O Things in plain view of the accused person
O Places or things that the arrested person could
also touch or reach or are otherwise in the
arrestee’s immediate control.
O Court has ruled that police must knock
and announce their presence before
entering a home or apartment to execute
a search
Fourth and Fifth Amendments
and the Exclusionary Rule
O Judicially created rule that prohibits policy from
using illegally seized evidence at trial.
O Weeks v. U.S. (1914)
O The Court reasoned that allowing police and
prosecutors to use a tainted search would only
encourage that activity.
O Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
O Warren Court ruled that “all evidence obtained by
searches and seizures in violation of the
Constitution, is inadmissible in a state court.”
O The Court, despite its conservative reputation, has
continued to uphold the exclusionary rule.
Fifth Amendment: Self-incrimination
and Double Jeopardy
O Imposes a number of restrictions on the federal
government with respect to the rights of persons suspected
of committing a crime.
O
“No person shall be…compelled in any criminal case to be a
witness against himself.”
O Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
O Miranda rights
O Provides for indictment by a grand jury and protection
against self-incrimination
O Prevents the national government from denying a person
life, liberty, or property without the due process of law
O It also prevents the national government from taking
property without fair compensation
O Double jeopardy clause
O
Protects individuals from being tried twice for the same
offense
Sixth Amendment and the
Right to Counsel
O Sets out the basic requirements of
procedural due process for federal courts to
follow in criminal trials
O These include speedy and public trials,
impartial juries, trials in the state where the
crime was committed, notice of the charges,
the right to confront and obtain favorable
witnesses, and the right to counsel
O Gideon v. Wainwright (1936)
The Sixth Amendment and
Jury Trials
O Provides that a person accused of a crime
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public
trial by an impartial jury
O It also provides defendants the right to
confront witnesses against them.
O Supreme Court has held that jury trials must
be available if a prison sentence of six or
more months is possible
O Impartiality of jury
O Batson v. Kentucky (1986)
O Right to confront witnesses
O Maryland v. Craig (1990)
The Eighth Amendment and
Cruel and Unusual
Punishment
O Part of the Bill of Rights that states: “Excessive bail shall
not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and
unusual punishments inflicted.”
O Furman v. Georgia (1972)
O
Court ended capital punishment
O Found it was imposed in an arbitrary manner
O Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
O Reaction to rewriting of state laws on death penalty
O Death penalty statute found to be constitutional
O McClesky cases (1987 and 1991)
O House v. Bell (2006)
O DNA evidence
O Court also ruled in 2006 that death-row inmates could
challenge the drugs and procedures involved in lethal
injections