criminal procedure discussion #2 In Chapter 2 you learned about the protections found in the constitution and how they are applied in Criminal proced -

criminal procedure discussion #2
In Chapter 2 you learned about the protections found in the constitution and how they are applied in Criminal procedure. Taking what you learned from reading the chapter and the required resources please take some time to research the cases mentioned below answer the following:
OJ Simpson was acquitted in state court of murder charges and then was found liable for those very samedeaths in a civil suit.
What do you think of the dual trials involving OJ, one criminal, one civil, and the different verdicts that came out of each?
In 1991, in a racially charged riot in Brooklyn, NY, Lemrick Nelson stabbed and killed Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting scholar from Australia. Mr. Nelson was acquitted of murder charges in state court but was then indicted on federal civil rights violations (he violated Mr. Rosenbaums civil rights by taking his life because of Mr. Rosenbaums religion). Mr. Nelson was eventually convicted of a lesser crime.
What do you think of these dual criminal prosecutions in state and federal courts?
How do you compare your reaction to the exact same dual prosecutions of the police officers who beat Rodney King?
What rule of Right or Criminal Procedure applies here?

Criminal
Procedure
10th Edition
Joel Samaha
2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

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criminal procedure discussion #2 In Chapter 2 you learned about the protections found in the constitution and how they are applied in Criminal proced

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Criminal Procedure
and the Constitution
Chapter 2

2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

Constitutionalism
In a constitutional democracy, constitutionalism is the idea that constitutions adopted by the whole people are a higher form of law than ordinary laws passed by legislatures.
Constitutions are permanent, general principles.
Laws are detailed, constantly changing rules.
The U.S. Constitution is the highest authority in criminal procedure; it trumps all other sources.

Note:
3

Constitutions
Constitutions have six characteristics:
They are the highest form of law.
They express the will of the whole people.
They always bind the government.
They cannot be changed by the government.
They can only be changed by direct action by the whole people.
They embody the fundamental values of the people.

Note: what is the difference between the a law and a constitution? The core
of the idea is that constitutions adopted by the whole people are a higher form of law
than ordinary laws passed by legislatures. Constitutions are forever; ordinary laws are
for now. Laws are detailed, constantly changing rules passed by legislatures; constitutions
are a set of permanent (or at least very hard to change), general principles.
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The Law of Criminal Procedure
(slide 1 of 2)
The U.S. Constitution is the highest authority in criminal procedure. The law of criminal procedure is based on the Bill of Rights. They are rules that the government must follow to:
Detect and investigate crimes
Apprehend suspects
Prosecute and convict defendants
Punish criminals

Note: What are some sources of procedural law in addition to the Bill of Rights (federal source and state sources).
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The Law of Criminal Procedure
(slide 2 of 2)
Equally important are the rules generated by SCOTUS based on the Bill of Rights.
We also learn about criminal procedure by looking at lower courts, such as the U.S. Courts of Appeal and the U.S. District Courts.

What/Who is the court of last resort? And what does his mean – meaning its decisions trump
the authority of all other sources of criminal procedure.
6

Criminal Procedure Provisions and the Constitution
Most criminal procedure provisions are found in the following amendments to the U.S. Constitution:
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Eighth
Fourteenth

Note: What procedural rights are guaranteed by the Constitution? Habeas corpus (Article I, 9), the right of individuals to challenge any government detention. Trial by jury in the community where crimes were committed.
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Criminal Procedure Protections
in the Bill of Rights (slide 1 of 2)

Fourth
Amendment The right to be free from unreasonable searches
The right to be free from unreasonable seizures
The right to probable cause to back up searches and seizures

Fifth
Amendment The right to grand jury indictment in federal cases
The right against double jeopardy
The right to due process in federal cases
The right against self-incrimination

Sixth Amendment The right to a speedy trial
The right to a public trial
The right to an impartial jury
The right to have a jury made up of persons from the state and district where the crime was committed
The right to be informed of the charges against the accused
The right to confront witnesses against the accused
The right to a compulsory process to obtain witnesses in favor of the accused
The right of the accused to defense counsel

Criminal Procedure Protections
in the Bill of Rights (slide 2 of 2)

Eighth
Amendment The right against excessive bail
The right against excessive fines
The right against cruel and unusual punishment

Fourteenth Amendment The right to due process of law in state criminal proceedings
The right to equal protection of the law in state criminal proceedings

The U.S. Constitution and the Courts
The supremacy clause and judicial review together establish that criminal procedure has to answer to the U.S. Constitution.
All courts can interpret the Constitution, but SCOTUS has the final word.
SCOTUS decisions bind all other courts.
States rules cannot violate the U.S. Constitution.

Precedent and Stare Decisis
Prior decisions are called precedent
Firmly entrenched doctrine called stare decisis commands judges to follow their precedents

State Courts as a Source of Criminal Procedure Law
State courts are a source of criminal procedural law in two types of cases:
Those involving the U.S. Constitution that SCOTUS hasnt decided yet.
Those involving their own state constitutions.

Constitutional Balancing Approach
The balancing approach stimulated judicial decision making and academic writing to focus on two empirical questions:
How effective are these practices in controlling crime?
What is their effect on individual liberty and privacy?

Accuracy of Determining Guilt or Innocence
The criminal justice system is operated by people, namely witnesses, detectives, suspects, lawyers, judges, and jurors.
These peoples memories, recognitions, assessments, inferences, social influence, and decisions, all tied in with moral judgments, and emotions, and motivations turn the wheels of the system.

Dan Simon, In Doubt (2012)

Note: What are some faulty system explanations? Too much plea bargaining, prosecutors discretion, infrequent jury trials
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Dualistic Nature of the Supreme Court
The will of the people refers to the power the people to create laws, while the ancient concept of fundamental law places limits on that power. To uphold these contradictory ideas, SCOTUS must shape its decisions with the public good in mind.

State Constitutions and State Courts
Every state constitution guarantees its citizens parallel rightsrights similar to those in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
States can raise the minimum standards of rights set by SCOTUS but cannot reduce rights below that standard.

Note: What are some examples of parallel rights? Every state constitution guarantees its citizens rights parallel to those in the U.S. Constitution,such as the rights against self-incrimination and unreasonable searches and seizures. State constitutions can increase criminal procedure rights but cant reduce them below the
federal minimum defined by the U.S. Supreme Court. State courts are the final authority in
cases based on their own constitutions and statutes, but cases involving the U.S. Constitution
that the Supreme Court hasnt decided yet can be appealed to federal courts.
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Key Case (slide 1 of 3)
Hurtado and Charging by Information
Hurtado v. California (1884)the defendant Joseph Hurtado was indicted in a murder case without being charged by a grand jury.
Hurtado argued that charging by information was unconstitutional under the 14th and 5th Amendments.
The court rejected his argument, but later adopted the view in the 1960s, embracing the view of Justice John Marshall Harlan, the lone dissenter in Hurtado.

Key Case (slide 2 of 3)
The Scottsboro Boys, Due Process of Law, and The Right to Counsel
Powell v. Alabama (1932)nine black defendants, the Scottsboro boys, were charged with raping two white girls.
With an alcoholic defense attorney, 8 were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in a span of four days.
The Alabama Supreme Court upheld the convictions, but SCOTUS later overturned them because the defendants were denied due process of law.

Key Case (slide 3 of 3)
Brown v. Mississippi, Due Process, and Coerced Confessions
Brown v. Mississippi (1936)three black men were severely and repeatedly beaten until they confessed to killing a white man.
After a one day trial, all three were convicted and sentenced to death.
The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the convictions.
SCOTUS reversed the convictions, ruling that the confessions were anything but voluntary.

Due Process of Law
While the 14th Amendment was adopted in the aftermath of the Civil War, its power greatly expanded during the 1960s due process revolution.
According to the 14th Amendment, states must provide due process and equal protection of the law.
Procedural due process means fair process.
Due process guarantees fair procedures for deciding cases.

The Fundamental Fairness Doctrine
Powell v. Alabama and Brown v. Mississippi established the fundamental fairness doctrine. According to this, states must provide two basics of a fair trial:
Notice to defendants of the charges against them.
A hearing on the facts before convicting and punishing defendants.

The Incorporation Doctrine
By the 1960s, the majority of the Court came to reject the fundamental fairness doctrine, favoring instead the incorporation doctrine.
This defined 14th Amendment due process as applying specific provisions of the Bill of Rights to state criminal procedures.
Fundamental fairness doctrine focused on general fairness, while incorporation focused on specific procedures.

Bill of Rights Provisions Incorporated (as of 2007)

The Bill of Rights Provision Case

Unreasonable searches and seizures Wolf v. Colorado (1949)

Exclusionary rule applied to state searches and seizures Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Self-incrimination Malloy v. Hogan (1964)

Assistance of counsel Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Confront witnesses against the accused Pointer v. Texas (1965)

Compulsory process to obtain witnesses Washington v. Texas (1967)

Speedy trial Klopfer v. North Carolina (1967)

Cruel and unusual punishment Robinson v. California (1962)

Equal Protection of the Law
A constitutional command since 1868, equal protection protects people from being investigated, apprehended, convicted, and punished unreasonably.
This is not the same as saying everyone must be treated exactly alikebut the treatment must always be reasonable.

Violating Equal Protection of the Law
To claim a violation of equal protections, defendants must prove two things:
Discriminatory effectThe official action was based on race or some other group identity.
Discriminatory purposeThe named official in the group intended to discriminate against the named individual because of race or some other group identity.

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