Instructors Manual - for Criminal Procedure rd Edition John L. Worrall

Instructor’s Manual for Criminal Procedure 3 rd Edition John L. Worrall 1 / 4

iii 1 17 27 39 52 64 74 86 96 106 120 132 143 Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to Criminal Procedure

Chapter 2: The Exclusionary Rule and Other

Remedies

Chapter 3: I

ntroduction to the 4 th Amendment

Chapter 4: Searches and

Arrests with Warrants

Chapter 5: Searches and

Arrests without Warrants

Chapter 6: Stop and Frisk

Chapter 7: Special Needs and Regulatory Searches

Chapter 8: Interrogations and Confessions

Chapter 9: Identifications

Chapter 10: The Pretrial Process

Chapter 11: Prosecutors,

Grand Juries, and Defense Attorneys

Chapter 12: Plea Bargaining and Guilty Pleas

Chapter 13: Trial and Beyond 2 / 4

1 Chapter 1

Introduction to Criminal Procedure

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

This chapter identifies two key themes that run throughout criminal procedure. The first is the concern with the constitutional rights of accused persons, as interpreted by the courts and the role of precedents of past cases. Second is that criminal procedure contains an important historical dimension, one that defers regularly to how sensitive legal issues have been approached in the past.

The first focus of the chapter summarizes the constitutional basis for criminal procedure.Whenever the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, it effectively makes an announcement concerning people’s rights. Although the Constitution and the court decisions stemming from it reign supreme in criminal procedure, statutes also play an important role. The five most relevant amendments to criminal procedure are 4 th , 5 th , 6 th , 8 th , and 14 th .

The following section explains the importance of precedent. A precedent is a rule of case law (that is, a decision by a court) that is binding on all lower courts and the court that issued it.Before making decisions, courts almost always look to the past for the purpose of determining whether a case with similar facts has already been decided. If one has not, the Court will distinguish the present case and hand down a decision that may be relied on by some other court, at some later date.

The following section focuses on the competing concerns of criminal procedure. In the real world, the police and other criminal justice officials must act, and what they do does not always agree with decisions handed down by the courts. That is, the theoretical world of the courts can differ in important ways from the real world of law enforcement. Understanding that these two different worlds exist and that they can be at odds with one another will allow us to look at court decisions with a critical eye and a dose of reality. The balance between crime control and due process is also discussed in this section.

The next section of this chapter outlines the structure of the Court system. It also discusses the responsibilities and jurisdictions of each level. The United States has a two-tiered court structure consisting of federal and state courts at the federal level. Three types of courts are relevant: district courts, circuit courts of appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The district courts try cases involving violations of federal laws. The decisions of district courts are appealed to circuit courts of appeals and then to the U.S. Supreme Court. State court structures vary from one state to the next but generally consist of courts of limited jurisdiction, trial courts of general jurisdiction, intermediate appellate courts, and supreme courts.

Understanding the parts of a court case is the next focus of the chapter. One of the more frustrating aspects of criminal procedure, especially for those who have little familiarity with the 3 / 4

2 law or legal jargon, is the laborious task of tracing the progress of a criminal case. There are some essential steps to tracing the progress of a criminal case. First, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of the nation’s court structure. Second, to adequately follow the progress of a criminal case, it is also necessary to understand the legal jargon. Third, it is essential to have an understanding of how cases are decided and what possible decisions can be reached. Multiple appellate courts exist, which means the decisions from court to court can change.

The last section of chapter one focuses on the criminal process. It begins with a police/citizen encounter and then moves into arrest, booking, pretrial hearings, trial, and appeals. Once the pretrial process has concluded and the charges have stood, adjudication occurs. This takes place following either a guilty plea or a trial. Sentencing usually takes place at a separate hearing. The guilty party may be sentenced to death (for a capital crime), committed to prison, fined, placed on probation, or subjected to a host of other possible sanctions. Probation is the most common.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

• Summarize the constitutional basis for criminal procedure.• Explain the importance of precedent.• Distinguish between the public order (crime-control) and individual rights (due process) perspectives of criminal justice.• Outline the structure of the court system, including the responsibilities and jurisdictions of each level.• Discuss the steps to trace and understand court cases.• Summarize the criminal process.

LECTURE OUTLINE

The Constitutional Basis for Criminal Procedure

The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution states:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Of particular relevance to criminal procedure are the terms justice and liberty. The Constitution helps ensure justice and liberty by defining the various roles of government and protecting the rights of people within the nation’s borders. Throughout the nation’s history, the courts have devoted a great amount of energy to interpreting the Constitution and specifying what rights are important and when they apply.

Sources of rights. In addition to the Constitution, important sources of rights include court decisions, statutes, and state constitutions. Most of the cases discussed throughout the book are U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Each state also has its own constitution, which can be considered

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