Ch 14 – The Trial
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Fair trial – based only with people accused
of a crime
6th amendment – right to a trial by jury (Fed
and State)
Jury: not required in every case/ not used
much
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Most cases resolved by pleas
Can waive right to a jury
Not used/required in cases where offenses are
punishable by 6 months or less
Jury
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Selected by voter registration/tax
lists/driver license rolls
Representative of the community
FED – 12 person jury – must reach a
unanimous verdict
STATE – use 12 but only req. 6 – the
supreme court has not recognized
unanimous verdict
Attorneys
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Right is protected under the 6th amendment
Powell v Alabama (“Scottsboro Boys”) –(The
case of the Scottsboro Boys arose in Scottsboro, Alabama during the
1930s, when nine black youths, ranging in age from thirteen to nineteen,
were accused of raping two white women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, one
of whom would later recant.
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The four trials, in which the youths were convicted and sentenced to death by
all-white juries despite the weak and contradictory testimonies of the
witnesses
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Johnson v. Zerbst (allows in federal courts)
1938 supreme court req. all federal cases
1965 – all state/fed courts
Public defenders paid by court – less than private lawyers
$23,000 - $169,000 (public defenders)
Controversy – quality of the defense
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Witness Process
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Defendants have the right to compulsory
process
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Can subpoena a witness to testify
Defendants have the right to confront a
witness and cross examine
Child testimony – usually closed circuit TV
is used
The defendant can take the stand but it is a
federally protected right to not do such an
action
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Immunity
Immunity from prosecution occurs when a prosecutor grants
immunity to a witness in exchange for testimony. It is immunity
because the prosecutor essentially agrees to never prosecute
the crime that the witness might have committed in exchange
for that testimony.
Immunity confers a status on a person or body that places
him/her/it above the law and makes that person or body free
from otherwise legal obligations such as, for example, liability
for torts or damages or prosecution under criminal law for
criminal acts
Judicial immunity, which finds its origin in sovereign immunity,
is the absolute immunity of a judge or magistrate from any
kind of civil liability for an act performed in the judge's official
capacity.
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while sitting on the bench the judge cannot be sued for defamation if he
or she makes a statement about one of the parties before the court that
might otherwise be considered slander.
Homework
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14.1, 14.4, 14.5 due tomorrow
Will be collected!