Under Alabama law, the issues to be determined at a preliminary hearing concern whether there is probable cause to present the case to the grand jury and to fix bail. 5. Following his trial and conviction, Coleman argued on appeal that Alabama's failure to provide him with appointed counsel at the preliminary hearing unconstitutionally violated the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, a critical stage of the prosecution. ISSUE: Is preliminary hearing considered a critical stage of the criminal justice process for which the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is required? HOLDING: Yes.
Unless the government is able to prove the existence of these elements, it can't obtain a conviction in a court of law. The due process model is a model of the criminal justice system that stresses that every criminal justice conclusion is built on scrupulous information. Due process stresses the adversarial process, the rights of defendant and the rights of the formal decision-making procedure. It is vital to realize that courts allow individuals to defend themselves based on entrapment, self-defense or insanity. These, however, must be proved appropriately to allow courts practice fairness in defenses.
Module 1 Case Analysis Assignment Chapter 3 Question 1 (pg. 65) Q: Explain the two types of jurisdiction that a court must have to hear a case and render a binding decision over the parties. A: Original Jurisdiction involves parties that present evidence and witnesses to testify. With the original jurisdiction the courts have the power to hear a case as soon as it enters the legal system. Appellate Jurisdiction is the ability to review the transcripts of trial courts and see if they may have made an error in their decision.
If bail has not previously been set, it is often set at the same time as the arraignment. Bail (or "bond") is often granted in a standard amount, depending upon the crime charged. In civil trials, one person or party has reached the conclusion that their outstanding disagreement or dispute with another individual or entity can no longer be resolved through informal damage plea bargaining without the intervention of the judicial system and a civil trial. To initiate the process of a civil trial, individuals are required to file a complaint within the court of appropriate jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is determined by assessing whether the court receiving the complaint has power over a defendant and whether the property involved in a dispute is within the given jurisdiction.
Right to Counsel Elsie M Farias CJA 364/ Criminal Procedure March 27, 2013 Professor Horwath Right to Counsel The Sixth Amendment of the United States constitution grants the right of a person accused of a crime the right to counsel to aid and represent themselves. This is known as the Right to Counsel. The Right to Counsel is founded on the Right to a fair trial. If a defendant is unable to retain their own counsel, they have the right to request one to be appointed to them. The defendant also has the right to not retain or request a lawyer and this turns their representation to Pro Sea which basically means one waives all their rights.
Many laws have evolved and changed meanings over time, and therefore, the “law of our land” must be applied as accurately as possible for the criminal justice system to work effectively. The original content for which the amendment regarding counsel stemmed from a need to reinforce the standards set by colonial Americans when they were facing the English. The right to counsel was not necessarily a positive state because often the counsel appointed was not working necessarily for the defendant’s best interest. Nowhere does the amendment explicitly state that the accused will be provided counsel by the government (Sonneborn, 2004). There has been an addendum that had to be put in place later to combat any legal issues that would have been faced when integrating the right to counsel clause into the modern criminal justice
Case Analysis Assignment-The Trial of Orenthal J. Simpson April 7th, 2013 Fundamentally, the burden of proof falls on the prosecution and means that they are required to present evidence during a trial that must prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the defendant did in fact commit the crime they are being charged with. The burden of proof entails that the prosecution present evidence that is accurate of the guilt of the defendant and in addition persuade the jury that the evidence presented establishes that guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Latin meaning of prima facie is first look. It refers to criminal prosecution wherein the evidence previous to the trial is satisfactory to prove a case except there is significant ambiguous evidence given at the trial. Subsequent to the prosecution putting on the total of its evidence, the defense attorney will customarily ask for a dismissal of the charges due to lack of sufficient evidence.
Trident University Criminal Justice System Procedures (CJA 502) Summer 2010 Module 1 - Case 19 July 2010 Module 1 – Case Does the Federal Grand Jury System need to be reformed? Being that “Grand juries listen to evidence and decide if someone should be charged with a crime (Brenner, 2003)”, I believe the Grand Jury System to be in need of a reform. The evidence the grand juries hear, unlike a trial jury, is against the accused without allowing the accused to refute the evidence with evidence of his or her own. Other issues of concern as to why I believe in reformation of the grand jury system include: embarrassment, fear, manipulation, uphold rights, misconception, and unfairness. Illustrated statements for each aforementioned
Court History and Purpose Michele A Anderson CJA/224 June 8, 2012 Austin Zimmer Court History and Purpose The American justice system is a complex system that serves a purpose of administering justice and all other legal matters. This paper will examine the court system and its purpose. This paper will describe the dual court system and how it pertains to our justice system. This paper will also examine the role of the early legal codes, common law, and the precedent they played in the development of the court systems. This paper will identify the role of the courts in the criminal justice system today.
Constitution’s Bill of Rights. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 reversed a court sentence by a judge in a criminal case involving Charles Apprendi. (Schmalleger, 2009, p. 394). The defendant Charles Apprendi pleaded guilty to “unlawfully possessing a firearm,” (Schmalleger, 2009, p. 394). The presiding judge during trial found out that Apprendi fired shots to a neighboring house as threats to leave the neighborhood.