STREET LAW study guide #3: Criminal Trial Process -- The Trial
NAME: ______________________________
Read in STREET LAW pages 166-172 and answer the following questions --
1.What are the basic rights that are considered to be the essence of due process of law?
* Grand Jury (indictment and/or communication of charges, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination (including MIRANDA warnings if questioned), Due Process, Jury Trial (speedy and public), Right to Confront (and cross-examine) and to Counsel
2. Under what circumstances is a jury trial required?
* all federal and state courts (although it can be waived by the defendant)
3. Are juries of 12 always required, when a jury is called for, and is a unanimous verdict always required? If the answer to both or either questions is "yes", why do you think that is? If the answer to either or both is "no" why not?
* (12 members and/or a unanimous verdict are required only in federal and in most state courts; 6 members, however, is the minimum)
4. What is a peremptory challenge and why do you think trial attorneys are given them in jury trial?
* authority given attorneys for both sides to exclude individuals as jurors without a stated reason; challenges for cause are accepted at the discretion of the trial judge
5. Why do you think the 6th Amendment requires a "speedy trial" in criminal cases, especially since it is hard to define "speedy?"
* fading witness memories and "lost" evidence risk
6. What is "jury nullification" and why is it controversial?
* the authority of the jury to disregard the law and the judge's instructions, for the sake of justice, to acquit an accused
7. Why do you think the right to compel witnesses to testify (on both sides of a case) and the right of a defendant to confront witnesses against him or her are considered to be basic to due process?
* makes the presumption of innocence real
8. In the overwhelming majority of countries, defendants can be required to testify, but not in the United States. And yet virtually all other witnesses (subject to a few exceptions) can be required to testify. Do you think the Constitution should be amended to require defendants to testify? Why or why not?
9. Since the Sixth Amendment does not require specifically that an accused person be provided with an attorney if he or she can't afford one, and until 1963 states were not required to provide an attorney, how do you think the U.S. Supreme Court could rule in 1963 that this was a Constitutional requirement in felony cases?
10. Since the state (prosecution) cannot appeal once a defendant has been acquitted (found not guilty) in a criminal trial, why do you think the defense (representing the accused) is guaranteed a right to appeal?
Read in STREET LAW pages 166-172 and answer the following questions --
1.What are the basic rights that are considered to be the essence of due process of law?
* Grand Jury (indictment and/or communication of charges, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination (including MIRANDA warnings if questioned), Due Process, Jury Trial (speedy and public), Right to Confront (and cross-examine) and to Counsel
2. Under what circumstances is a jury trial required?
* all federal and state courts (although it can be waived by the defendant)
3. Are juries of 12 always required, when a jury is called for, and is a unanimous verdict always required? If the answer to both or either questions is "yes", why do you think that is? If the answer to either or both is "no" why not?
* (12 members and/or a unanimous verdict are required only in federal and in most state courts; 6 members, however, is the minimum)
4. What is a peremptory challenge and why do you think trial attorneys are given them in jury trial?
* authority given attorneys for both sides to exclude individuals as jurors without a stated reason; challenges for cause are accepted at the discretion of the trial judge
5. Why do you think the 6th Amendment requires a "speedy trial" in criminal cases, especially since it is hard to define "speedy?"
* fading witness memories and "lost" evidence risk
6. What is "jury nullification" and why is it controversial?
* the authority of the jury to disregard the law and the judge's instructions, for the sake of justice, to acquit an accused
7. Why do you think the right to compel witnesses to testify (on both sides of a case) and the right of a defendant to confront witnesses against him or her are considered to be basic to due process?
* makes the presumption of innocence real
8. In the overwhelming majority of countries, defendants can be required to testify, but not in the United States. And yet virtually all other witnesses (subject to a few exceptions) can be required to testify. Do you think the Constitution should be amended to require defendants to testify? Why or why not?
9. Since the Sixth Amendment does not require specifically that an accused person be provided with an attorney if he or she can't afford one, and until 1963 states were not required to provide an attorney, how do you think the U.S. Supreme Court could rule in 1963 that this was a Constitutional requirement in felony cases?
10. Since the state (prosecution) cannot appeal once a defendant has been acquitted (found not guilty) in a criminal trial, why do you think the defense (representing the accused) is guaranteed a right to appeal?