- Appellate Courts: In California, courts are divided
between trial courts and appellate courts. The trial courts are
the forums wherein cases are litigated by the presentation of
evidence before a trier of fact (judge or jury). Appellate courts
review the results of trial courts. Only under extraordinary
circumstances might an appellate court take evidence. Appellate
courts are bound by the evidence as it was found by the trial
court. Appellate courts presume the validity of the action of
the trial courts and will rarely reverse the trial courts, generally
only if an error of law was shown which prohibited the accused
from receiving a fair trial and the results of that trial reasonably
can be predicted to be better for the defendant if the error
had not been made.
Burden of Proof: This identifies the party to the lawsuit
who has the responsibility for going forward with evidence. In
addition, it often speaks to the test of the sufficiency of the
evidence offered by that party. In criminal cases it is the duty
of the prosecution to prove a case against the accused before
the accused need present a defense. If the prosecution cannot
offer admissible evidence then the defendant is freed. The defendant
cannot be required to offer evidence when the prosecution has
failed to meet its burden of proof. (See Reasonable Doubt, Presumption
of Innocence.)
Capital Offense: These are crimes which are punishable
by death. In California all capital offenses are murders. All
persons charged with such crimes are required to have the assistance
of counsel pursuant to section 987 (b) of the California
Penal Code. In such cases the court may also appoint a second
attorney to assist the defense upon application of the first
counsel as provided by section 987 (d) of the California
Penal Code.
Discovery: Generally refers to the information made
available by each side of the case to the other. The prosecutor
has a Constitutional obligation to disclose to the defense any
evidence which is exculpatory (that is, things that would tend
to show that the accused person might not be guilty or which
would reduce or mitigate the guilt). Common discovery items are
copies of the police reports and laboratory investigation results
as well as tapes of witness interviews and photographs of scenes.
The defense has a duty to produce the names of witnesses and
to disclose physical evidence it intends to use at the trial.
This process is controlled by statute and court rule as well
as the Constitution of the state and United States. The defense
never has to disclose statements made by the defendant nor whether
or not the defendant intends to testify at trial.
Double Jeopardy: The concept of double jeopardy is
that a person shall not be prosecuted more than one time for
a crime. This is to prevent the government from continually trying
a client until they obtain a conviction. Generally, this rule
requires the prosecution to bring all charges related to an event
to trial at one time. If they fail to do this and a person is
either convicted or acquitted of the charges actually filed,
the prosecution will be prohibited from filing additional charges
later. This rule does not prohibit re-trial of cases in which
the jury was unable to reach a verdict or which were dismissed
prior to trial.
Exclusionary Rule: This refers to the concept of prohibiting
the prosecution from using evidence which it obtained illegally.
Usually the illegality has to do with law enforcement violating
the Constitutional rights of the defendant, as, for example,
unlawfully entering into the defendants home and seizing articles
therein. The idea behind the rule is that the government should
not benefit from misconduct of its agents. Some commentators
also believe that the use of such evidence sullies the courts
and should be prohibited for that purpose as well. The hoped
for result of the exclusionary rule is to educate and improve
law enforcement with the results that the people of the country
will be less subject to violation of their rights. Alternatives
to the use of the exclusionary rule have been proposed. The main
alternative is to allow those whose rights have been violated
to sue the agent or agency which acted improperly. Critics of
this on both sides of the fence abound. Civil libertarians note
that juries are unlikely to award damages to criminals who are
caught illegally even if their rights were violated and therefore
the remedy is ineffective. This fact also is noted by those who
say such a rule would encourage law enforcement agents to fabricate
evidence when they have acted improperly solely for the purpose
of protecting themselves from personal liability. Law enforcement
agents note that such personal liability might discourage the
vigorous investigation and enforcement of criminal laws as officers
would be intimidated by the risk to themselves if they erred.
Felony: In California the term felony refers to crimes
which are punishable by incarceration in state prison. Other
than capital offenses, these are the most serious crimes. Lesser
crimes are misdemeanors and infractions. See sections 16-19.8
of the California
Penal Code.
Fifth Amendment:
In common parlance, the phrase is used to refer to the right
of a person to remain silent without such silence being taken
as evidence of guilt. The right is based on the Fifth
Amendment to the United
States Constitution. The public is most frequently exposed
to this concept through fictional accounts of Miranda Rights.
The Miranda warning was created by the United States Supreme
Court in the case of Miranda
v. Arizona wherein Chief Justice Earl Warren reviewed the
historic problem of law enforcement failing to honor the right
of arrestees not to talk about the subject of their arrest. In
response, the court imposed a duty upon arresting officers to
advise people who are suspected and involuntarily detained that
they need not respond to questions designed to incriminate them.
Failure to make such a warning and obtain an agreement of the
arrested person to talk can result in the exclusion of any statement
that person may make.
Hung Jury: In California, criminal juries must be unanimous
in their verdict. This means that all 12 jurors must agree upon
the decision. If the jury fails to agree the result is a hung
jury. In such cases the matter will be re-set for trial.
Infraction: In California the term infraction has a
specific legal meaning in the criminal law (see sections 16-19.8
of the California
Penal Code). Infractions are the least significant offenses
in this state as they are not punishable by incarceration of
any kind. People charged with infractions are not entitled to
the assistance of the Public Defender, although they may be represented
by retained counsel in such cases. Typical infractions are traffic
law violations and local ordinance crimes.
Judge: The judicial officer that presides over a case
once filed in the trial court. Judges are lawyers who have been
a member of the bar for at least 10 years prior to becoming a
judge. While they are elected by the public for six year terms,
most are originally appointed to the job by the Governor who
has the power to fill openings as they occur.
Justice: Judicial officers who sit on the appellate
courts are called Justices. The highest judge of the Supreme
Court is known as the Chief Justice. In early times, judges of
the lowest level trial courts were known as Justices of the Peace.
In the beginning, and until the 1970s in California, such officers
were not required to be lawyers or to have legal training.
Magistrate: The role assumed by a judge when presiding
over certain matters, most commonly, preliminary hearings.
Miranda Rights: See Fifth Amendment.
Misdemeanor: In California the term misdemeanor refers
to crimes which are punishable by not more than one year in the
local jail. These class of crimes are the intermediate level
offenses in the state. Lesser crimes are infractions, greater
crimes are felonies or capital offenses. See sections 16-19.8
of the California
Penal Code.
Presumption of Innocence: Persons accused of crimes
are presumed to be innocent under our Constitution. This creates
a burden of proof on the accuser to overcome that presumption
and to prove the case against the accused. (See Burden of Proof,
Reasonable Doubt.)
Reasonable Doubt: In criminal cases the state is required
to prove the guilt of an accused person beyond a reasonable doubt.
This is defined by California
Penal Code section 1096 as, It is not a mere possible doubt;
because everything relating to human affairs is open to some
possible or imaginary doubt. It is that state of the case, which,
after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence,
leaves the minds of jurors in that condition that they cannot
say they feel an abiding conviction of the truth of the charges.
(See Burden of Proof, Presumption of Innocence.)
Strikes: The term strikes in the criminal law refers
to prior convictions, in particular to sentencing laws that increase
the sentences of convicted persons when such person has prior
convictions. In California the 3 strikes law was passed by voter
initiative and mandates minimum sentences of 25 years to life
for any defendant who has a two prior felony convictions.
Subpoena:
Is an order of the court compelling a person to attend a trial
and give evidence. Disobedience of such an order may result in
the arrest of the person subpoenaed. A subpoena may also order
you to produce physical items such as records or objects. This
is called a subpoena duces tecum.
Trial Courts: These are the courts located in the community
which handle the day-to-day business of the law. All cases begin
in the trial courts. Misdemeanors and infractions are heard in
the lower courts (Justice and Municipal) whereas felony cases
are heard in the Superior Courts. However, recently the division
of trial courts between Justice Courts, Municipal Courts, and
Superior Courts has been reduced. In most counties all trial
courts are being consolidated into one Superior Court and the
distinctions between the cases heard by the previous categories
is being eliminated. (See Appellate Courts.)
Wobbler: In California this term is used to identify
crimes which are punishable either as a felony or as a misdemeanor.
This distinction is made in the Penal Code. When a case is a
wobbler, the district attorney has discretion to file it at either
level. Following conviction, the sentencing judge has similar
discretion to sentence the defendant to either a misdemeanor
or felony sentence.
Wobblette: See wobbler. Wobblettes are crimes which
are punishable as either misdemeanors or infractions.
