Chapter 12 Vocabulary & Outline

"Trial Defense and Prosecution"

1. right to counsel - A Sixth Amendment protection that guarantees suspects the right to representation by an attorney when their liberty is in jeopardy.

2. effective counsel - competent representation by an attorney. It is ineffective assistance of counsel when unprofessional errors would have changed the outcome of the case.

3. necessarily included offenses - ("Lesser" Included offenses); offenses that are, by definition, included in a charge as part of another (more serious) offense.

4. nolle prosequi - A decision by a prosecutor not to press charges; also known as nol. pros.

5. diversion programs - Alternatives to the formal criminal justice process that are implemented after charging but prior to adjudication; they attempt to achieve a noncriminal disposition of the case.

6. Pretrial investigation (PTI) - A type of diversion program in which a prosecutor suspends prosecution of a case pending the fulfillment of special conditions by the defendant. If these conditions are met, the case is dismissed.

7. plea bargaining - An agreement by a prosecutor to press a less serious charge, drop some charges, or recommend a less severe sentence if the defendant agrees to plead guilty.

8. caseloads- the large number of cases to be adjudicated in the courts.

9. case mortality - case attrition, in which arrests do not result in convictions for various reasons.

10. "three-strikes" law: Laws under which conviction for a third felony results in an extended sentence, up to life imprisonment.

11. Pretrial settlement conference - A meeting of the prosecutor, defendant, counsel, and judge to discuss a plea before a trial is held. No plea negotiations can take place outside this setting.

12. Crime Control Model - The perspective that views the repression of criminal conduct as the most important function to be preformed by the criminal justice system, through speed, efficiency, and finality in criminal justice processing.

13. Due Process Model - The perspective that considers preservation of individual liberties to be the most important function of the criminal justice system, through accuracy, fairness and reliability in criminal procedure.

14. Speedy Trial Acts - Legislation requiring that all criminal cases be brought to trial within one hundred days.

Outline
What are the Rights of The Accused?
`The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of accused persons to have the assistance of counsel.
`The scope of the right to counsel has been expanded in a series of important Supreme Court cases, beginning with Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963.
`In 1970 the Supreme Court ruled that defendants are entitled to effective assistance of counsel, but it is difficult to demonstrate that the outcome of a case would have been different without counsel's errors.

How Are Cases Settled Without Trial?
`Prosecutors have a great deal of discretion in deciding whether a case will be prosecuted and what charges will be pressed.
`Prosecutors sometimes divert offenders to diversion programs, alternatives to the formal criminal justice process that attempt to achieve noncriminal disposition of cases.
`Plea bargaining occurs when a prosecutor agrees to press a less serious charge, drop some charges, or recommend a less sever sentence if the defendant agrees to plead guilty.
`Historical records show that plea bargaining has long been used in jurisdictions of all types.

What Are Some Problems Of The Court System?
`A growing court caseload, combined with high case mortality, reveals that most cases end in guilty pleas.
`Critics of plea bargaining point out that it takes place in private; the rights of the accused and the interests of the community are not adequately protected; and the public may believe that justice is achieved. However, efforts to eliminate the practice have been unsuccessful.
`Proposals to eliminate undesirable aspects of plea bargaining include time limits, more public negotiations, better case-screening procedures, and reviews of plea agreements by panels of judges.
`A major issue for criminal defense is the tendency to focus on the offender rather than on the criminal act. This has led to the creation of new defenses that attempt to stretch the boundaries of concepts such as self-defense.
`Another issue is whether the crime control model (which emphasizes the repression of criminal conduct) or the due process model (which emphasizes the preservation of individual liberties) will dominate the justice process in a particular case or jurisdiction.