criminal evidence 6th edition - allied american...

Criminal Evidence

6th Edition

Norman M. Garland

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW OF

EVIDENCE AND THE PRE-TRIAL

PROCESS

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Legal Definition of Evidence

o In a legal sense,

evidence is any

information about the

facts of a case,

including tangible

items, testimony, and

documents,

photographs, or tapes,

which, when presented

to the jury at trial, tends

to prove or disprove

these facts.

Royalty-Free/CORBIS


The Technical Definition of Evidence

Technically, evidence consists of:

o Testimony or physical items presented to the

judge and jury that they use to:

o decide the truth of an assertion,

o the existence of a fact, and

o ultimately the guilt or innocence of the

accused in a criminal case.


Chain of Custody

o The chain of custody refers to how

evidence is handled, and by whom,

from the moment it is found until the

moment it is offered in evidence.

o Simply stated, no item of physical

evidence can be introduced at trial

unless the law enforcement officer has

maintained the proper "chain of

custody" of the item.


Forms and Types of Evidence

o Real

o Demonstrative

o Direct

o Circumstantial

o Physical

o Intangible

o Testimonial

Royalty-Free/CORBIS


The Step-by-Step Development of our

Modern Trial by Jury System

The Grand Jury System

o The Petit Jury (circa 1700

A.D.)

o The swearing in of witnesses.

o The right to cross-examine

witnesses.

o Hearsay evidence began to

disappear from the judicial

process.

o Rules of evidence began to

develop. Royalty-Free/CORBIS


Development of the Rules of

Evidence

o Rules of

evidence in jury

trials are

designed to

keep some

relevant

information from

the jury. Royalty-Free/CORBIS


Why isn’t all relevant evidence

admissible at trial?

o May violate some

principle or policy

that the law seeks

to promote.

o May have been

obtained by a law

enforcement

officer in violation

of a suspect's

constitutional

rights. Royalty-Free/CORBIS


o Today the rules of

evidence in most

jurisdictions are

in the form of a

statute or penal

code, meaning

that they are laws

enacted by a

legislative body.

The Forms of Evidence Rules

Royalty-Free/CORBIS


The Federal Rules of Evidence

o By far the most common codification

of evidence law is the Federal Rules of

Evidence (FRE).

o The FRE apply in all federal courts

throughout the United States, and 42

states have relied upon them as a

model in adopting their own evidence

codes.


The FRE in the 90’s

o Forty-two state legislatures had

adopted the FRE as of September,

2004.

o States that have not yet adopted the

Rules include: California, Georgia,

Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts,

Missouri, New York, and Virginia.


The Breadth & Scope of the FRE

o The FRE, and their

state counterparts,

cover the entire

field of judicial

procedure.

o These rules apply

equally in civil and

criminal matters.

Royalty-Free/CORBIS


OVERVIEW OF THE CRIMI NAL JUSTICE

PROCESS o Observation or

report of a crime

o Investigation

o Arrest

o Prosecution

o Trial

o Sentencing

o Appeal

o Service of sentence

o Release Royalty-Free/CORBIS


Participants in the Criminal Justice

System o Law enforcement

o The prosecution and

defense

o The courts and

o Corrections

Royalty-Free/CORBIS


The Role of Law Enforcement

o The police are

called upon to

perform three basic

functions:

o (1) enforcing the

law;

o (2) maintaining

public order;

o (3) providing

various public

services.

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc./Jill

Braaten, Photographer


Federal Law Enforcement

o Federal law enforcement agencies

investigate federal law violations

o The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

o The Drug Enforcement Administration

o The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and

Firearms

o The Customs Service


Additional Federal Law Enforcement

Agencies

o The Immigration and Naturalization Service

o The United States Marshals Service

o The Border Patrol, United States Park Service

o The Bureau of Postal Inspection, and

o The Secret Service


Specialized Fields and Personnel

Within Law Enforcement o Ballistics

o Fingerprint analysis

o Blood stain analysis

o DNA analysis

o Investigators

o Courtroom personnel (bailiffs, marshals, or

other guards)

o Jail personnel

o Probation officers, and prison personnel

o Other areas of scientific methodology


The Prosecutor’s Office

It is the job of the prosecutor to:

o Pursue a case developed by the police

until the case terminates by trial, guilty

plea, or dismissal.

o Decide whether to pursue a formal

charge, and, if so, what crime to charge.

o Conduct any plea negotiations, deciding

whether to dismiss charges.

o Try the case.


The Dual Court System

o There is a dual

judicial system in

the Untied States:

the federal and

state courts coexist.

o The federal court

system applies

nationwide, and

federal courts are

located in each

state. PhotoLink/Getty Images


Court Jurisdiction:

The Power or the Authority

for the Court to Act

Federal courts coexist with individual state

court systems.

o Whether a defendant is tried in a federal or

state court depends on which court has

jurisdiction over the particular case.

o The acts involved in the case must have

taken place within or have had an effect

within the geographical territory of the court,

or there must be some statutory authority for

the court's power.


The Federal Court System o There are currently federal trial courts in

each state and twelve United States

Courts of Appeal, arranged by circuit

(eleven numbered circuits and one

federal circuit).

o The lowest level of the federal court

system consists of 94 district courts

located in the 50 states (except for the

District of Wyoming, which includes the

Montana and Idaho portions of

Yellowstone National Park).


Venue vs. Jurisdiction

o Venue refers to the neighborhood,

place, or county in which an act is

declared to have been done, or in fact

happened; and, thus, defines the

particular county, or geographical

area, in which a court with jurisdiction

may hear and determine a case.

o Jurisdiction refers to the power or the

authority of the Court to act.

o The Distinction should not be overlooked!


Individual Constitutional Rights

in a Criminal Case The Fourth

Amendment of the

Bill of Rights:

o the freedom from

unreasonable

searches and

seizures

McGraw-Hill


Individual Constitutional Rights

in a Criminal Case The Fifth (and Fourteenth) Amendment

Rights:

o the right to silence and counsel during

police interrogations (in support of the Fifth

Amendment's privilege against self-

incrimination);

o the freedom from double jeopardy;

o the privilege against self-incrimination,

including a ban against comment by the

prosecution on the defendant's failure to

testify.


Constitutional Rights

The Sixth Amendment Rights The Sixth Amendment Rights:

o the right to trial by jury in cases involving

serious offenses

o the right to assistance of counsel in any

case in which a sentence of more than six

months in jail or prison is imposed

o the right to compel witnesses' attendance

at trial, to confront them, and to cross-

examine them

o the right to a speedy and public trial


The Eighth and Fourteenth

Amendments o the freedom from cruel and unusual

punishment

o the freedom from racial and sexual

discrimination in substantive and

procedural criminal law (Fourteenth

Amendment)


The Juvenile Court System

o There is also a

juvenile court system

in each state.

o Criminal offenders

under a certain age,

usually eighteen or

sixteen, are dealt

with in juvenile courts

by way of civil, rather

than criminal,

proceedings.

Jack Star/PhotoLink/Getty Images


Juvenile Court: Then and Now

McGraw-Hill


The Correctional Component

o All states maintain

state penal

institutions (prisons),

consisting of state

penitentiaries,

reformatories, and

training facilities for

juveniles. Royalty-Free/CORBIS


Prisons: A Growth Trend

o There are more than

600 state prison

facilities in the

United States, with a

total population in

all the country's

state and federal

prisons of an

estimated 1.4

million by mid-2003. Royalty-Free/CORBIS


Probation

o The probation department investigates

defendants prior to sentencing and

provides a pre-sentence probation

report to the court.

o Over 4 million adults are on probation

on any given day in the United States.

o Probation is the most frequent

sentence imposed on first-time

offenders.


Parole: After Incarceration

o A person may be sentenced to a term

in prison but released on parole prior

to the expiration of the full sentence.

o Supervision on parole is similar to

probation supervision.

o Violations of probation and terms of

parole lead to hearings that, may in

turn, lead to warning, incarceration, or

re-incarceration.


The Pretrial Court Process

o Arrest

o Bail

o Plea Bargaining

o Charging the Crime

o Arraignment and Plea

o Pretrial Motions


Probable Cause

Probable cause to arrest

exists when:

oa police officer has

enough evidence to

lead a reasonable

person to believe that

a crime has been

committed and that

the suspect was the

one who committed

the crime. McGraw-Hill


The Affidavit

o The complaint charges the defendant

with a particular crime and is

supported by an affidavit, a written

statement sworn under oath, in which

the officer states the facts within his or

her personal knowledge that support

the complaint.


Bail

o Most suspects are entitled to release

after arrest and booking, either on the

accused's own recognizance or on

bail.

o In less serious cases, this release can

be approved at the station house.

o In more serious cases, the judge

decides conditions for release at the

initial appearance.


Types of Bail

o Recognizance is a promise by a

person to appear in court.

o Bail is a deposit of cash, other

property, or a bond, guaranteeing that

the accused will appear in court.

o A bond is a written promise to pay the

bail sum, posted by a financially

responsible person, usually a

professional bondsman.


The Preliminary Hearing o The preliminary hearing is

the stage in which the judge

considers the prosecution's

case to decide whether

there is probable cause to

believe the defendant

committed the crimes

charged.

o If so, the defendant is held

to answer to formal charges

in the form of a grand jury

indictment or an

information. Royalty-Free/CORBIS


The Indictment or the Information

o The grand jury

indicts.

o The prosecutor files

an information.

o Each will formally

charge the

defendant.

PhotoDisc/Getty Images


The Arraignment

At the arraignment,

the defendant can

enter a plea of:

o guilty

o not guilty

o nolo contendere

(no contest), or

o stand mute

McGraw-Hill

criminal evidence 6th edition - allied american...

Documents