Unit Four Sentencing

Criminal Justice 1100 with Friday at University of Charlotte

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By: Jennifer Rodriguez
Created: 2011-05-07
Size: 34 flashcards
Views: 6

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Voir dire is

Jury selection.

Voir dire is the only opportunity to

get rid of those who are detrimental to the case. There is a check list for jury profiles.

Peremptory challenges

already know the name, address, occupation, and whether or not they have previously had jury duty

-Can be excluded do to their bias but it must be explained

In the District Court the prosecution and the defense each have __ people they can exclude and not have to explain

three

In the Superior Court the prosecution and the defense each get __ people they can exclude and not have to explain

six

If the case is capital, the prosecution and the defense each get __ people they can exclude and not have to explain

fourteen

A juror cannot be excluded on the basis of

race, gender, or religion

____% of cases are plea bargained

90.

Reasons to waive a jury

If innocent: speedy, judges will be consistent, or cheaper in terms of lawyer

If it is because of local prejudice: is the person a minority?

Prior to ___, it was required to have a jury

1934

Advantages of a Jury

-provides civic experience

-provides independent views

-acts as a "lighting rod"

-harder to convince 12 jurors than 1

Disadvantages of a Jury

-expensive for the community and defense

-lead to delays/backlogs

-juries are unpredictable in long trials/complicated trials--> short attention span. failure to attend to detail

-unfair tax on citizen

Factors to consider between prison or probation

1. multiple current convictions?

2. prior incarcerations?

3. was there a weapon involved?

4. a history of drug use?

5. did the person go to trial?

Factors that influence a judge during punishment consideration?

1. seriousness of the offense

2. duration of the criminal acts

3. location of the criminal acts

4. prior criminal record

5. role of the defendant (was the defendant a leader or follower)

6. did the defendant cooperate?

Sentencing strategies were developed by the legislature. They are:

1. Mandatory minimums

2. Indeterminate sentences (minimum sentence of something, dept. of corrections decides release, 2/3 of sentence must be served)

3. Determinant sentences (flat and fixed)

4. selective incapacitation (target high risk)

North Carolina practices ____ sentencing

Structured

On the felony punishment chart, felonies go from _ all the way down to _.

A; I. As the letters progress, the crimes within each category are less serious (in the eyes of the law)

an __ felony is death or life without parole. The only __ felony is ____.

A; A; First Degree Murder

a __ felony is reserved for rape, sexual assault, or second degree murder

a __ felony is reserved for attempted crimes (attempted rape, attempted assault)

__ and __ are more common street crimes such as assault without a weapon

F and G

__ and __ are lower level property crimes

H and I

All of sentencing falls into the restitutive justice category. Restorative justice:

-allows for the victim to be involved in the sentencing decision

-victim and offender can face each other

-involved the community

-the purpose is to restore the victim to were they were before

During the Trial, the ___ is the first to speak

Prosecution; gives the first opening sentence & presents the nature of the charges

-delineate the corpus delicti and legal elements of the crime to show why they find the defendant guilty

During the Trial, the __ is the second to speak

Defense; has opportunity to respond to prosecution's statements. *Main objective is to raise doubt about person's guilt.

Presentation of evidence requires

Relevant evidence specifically directed to the corpus delicti (must relate to the elements of the crime and can't be extraneous)

Material evidence: probative evidence (proves corpus delicti)

Reliable: test of court entrance

Non-prejudicial and legal.

The prosecuting attorney cannot

-reference defendant's unwillingness to testify

-imply that the government will not prosecute if the defendant were not guilty

-comment on the defendant's demeanor

-ask the jury to put themselves in the defendant's shoes

-no racial preferences

During the closing arguments, the __ goes first then the ___

Defense; prosecution

-each reviews the other's evidence to see why the person should be guilty or innocent

-prosecution gets the first and last word because they have the burden of proof

Judge and Jury trial percentages

75% of the time both parties agreed

17% of cases, judge convicted while the jury acquitted

2% of cases judge acquitted while jury convicted

rest was hung jury.

Difference in percentages between parties comes from

-Evidence: evaluation of the importance of the evidence

-jury requires higher evidence, the jury has gotten used to media like CSI and wants more scientific evidence

-Jury identification with defendant and/or against the law

Philosophy of justice that asserts that the punishment should fit the crime and the culpability of the offender

Just Desserts

About this deck

By: Jennifer Rodriguez
Created: 2011-05-07
Size: 34 flashcards
Views: 6

About StudyBlue

“I have used this website for three exams, and I see a huge difference in my test results.”
Naj