AJ 109: Criminal Court Process

• Identify and describe the stages in the trial process.
• Identify and critically analyze the concepts of due process as found in the 6th, 8th, and 14th amendments, including right to counsel, bail, jury trial, and due process.
• Describe the history and application of the exclusionary rule in shaping criminal procedure.
• Describe application of the right to counsel in a criminal law case.
• Describe application of the right to a jury trial.

1. Law: The Legal Battlefield
   1. What is Law?
   2. The Functions of Law
   3. The Evolution of Disputes
   4. Types of Law
   5. Sociolegal Perspectives and the Law
   6. Theoretical Perspectives of Criminal Court Decision-Making Practices
2. The Structure of American Courts
   1. Classifying America's Courts
   2. Federal Court Organization
   3. State Courts Organization
3. The Prosecution
   1. The Adversary System
   2. The Prosecution
4. The Defense
   1. On Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility
   2. The Right to Counsel
   3. The Right to a Trial by Jury
   4. The Defense
   5. Interactions Between Prosecutors and Defense Attorney
   6. The Discovery Process
   7. Defense Attorneys and Defenses for Criminal Conduct
5. Judges
   1. Judges and Their Qualifications
   2. Judicial Training
   3. Judicial Misconduct and Abuses of Discretion
   4. Other Issues with Judicial Behavior
   5. Removing Judges from Office
6. Juries
   1. The History of Juries
   2. The Development of the Grand Jury
   3. The Development of the Petit Jury
   4. The Jury Selection Process
   5. The Elimination of Jurors
   6. Jury Consultants and Scientific Jury Selection
   7. Jury Size
   8. Jury Sequestration
   9. Jury Decision Making and Voting
   10. Jury Verdicts
   11. Jury Nullification
   12. Jury and Juror Misconduct
7. Pretrial Procedures and the Trial Process
   1. Arrest and Booking
   2. Initial Appearance
   3. The Right to Bail
   4. Bail Bondsmen and Bonding Companies
   5. Competing Goals of Bail
   6. Other Forms of Pretrial Release 
   7. Bounty Hunters
   8. Preliminary Hearings
   9. Trial Process and Procedures
   10. Bench Trials and Jury Trials Contrasted
   11. The Trial Process
   12. Jury Deliberations
   13. The Verdict and its Aftermath
8. Pretrial Procedures: Plea Bargaining 
   1. Plea Bargaining: Negotiated Guilty Pleas
   2. Types of Guilty Plea Bargaining
   3. The Pros and Cons of Plea Bargaining
   4. Why is Plea Bargaining Banned in Some Jurisdictions?
   5. Judicial Instructions for Accepting Guilty Pleas and Rights Waivers
   6. Sentencing Systems and Plea Bargaining
9. Sentencing Goals and Structure
   1. Functions and Goals of Sentencing
   2. Reintegration
   3. Forms of Sentencing
   4. Habitual Offender Statues and Truth-in-Sentencing Laws
10. Judicial Sentencing Options, Sentencing Disparities, and Appeals
    1. Judicial Options at Sentencing
    2. The Sentencing Hearing
    3. The Presentence Investigation Report (PSI): Contents and Functions
    4. Imposing the Sentence
    5. Sentencing Disparities
    6. Appeals of Sentences
11. The Juvenile Justice System: Juvenile Rights and Case Processing
    1. Delinquency, Juvenile Delinquents, and Status Offenders
    2. The Jurisdiction of Juvenile Courts
    3. Juvenile Court History
    4. The Juvenile Justice Process
    5. Juvenile Rights and Standards of Proof
    6. Variations in Criminal and Juvenile Court Processing
12. Juvenile Courts: Adjudication and Disposition
    1. Adjudicatory Proceedings
    2. Transfers, Waivers, and Certifications
    3. Criminal Court Processing of Juvenile Offenders
    4. Blended Sentencing Statutes and the Get-Tough Movement
    5. Teen Courts
    6. Trends and Implications for Juvenile Offenders
13. Diversion, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Specialty Courts
    1. Decriminalization, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Diversion, and Restorative Justice: Exploring Alternatives to Criminal Prosecution
    2. Impartial Arbiters and Their Qualifications
    3. Victim Participation and Input
    4. Pretrial Diversion
    5. Other Noncriminal or Criminal Sanctions
    6. Specialty Courts

  14. Courts , Media, and the Litigation Explosion

         a.  Trials and the Court of Public Opinion

         b. History of the Media and the Courts

         c. Current Status of Media Access to the Courts

         d. Pretrial Publicity

         e. What Types of Information Do Potential Jurors Consider Prejudicial

         f. How to Minimize the Effects of Pretrial Publicity

         g. The Litigation Explosion

         h. Torts

         i. Arguments for Tort Reform