NCJ Number
91024
Date Published
1982
Length
866 pages
Annotation
This textbook of cases and materials details each of the steps in a litigated felony prosecution and the legal issues that commonly arise at each of those steps, using the legal doctrines that courts use in resolving them from the perspectives of the prosecutor and defense attorney.
Abstract
The introductory section considers the roles of the prosecution and defense attorney as well as special considerations relating to appeal (harmless error rules, the importance of timely objections and plain error rules, and the doctrine of waiver/forfeiture). Other major sections focus on pretrial proceedings, trial proceedings, and post-verdict proceedings. The section on the preliminary hearing examines the legal functions of such hearings and the various rights that defendants enjoy in connection with such hearings. Tactical questions are also raised, such as whether prosecutors should avoid these hearings by securing indictments or filing informations and whether defendants should waive such hearings in certain cases. This section gives particular attention to Ohio v. Roberts and confrontation-clause issues because of their pertinence to the use of preliminary hearing testimony at trial. Attention is also given to the rights and privileges of witnesses summoned before a grand jury. The section on trial proceedings focuses on defendants' rights, such as the double jeopardy clause, the right to a speedy trial, and the various constitutional rights to which defendants are entitled in connection with jury trials. Also examined are such topics as joinder and severance, multiplicity and duplicity, and techniques of jury selection. Chapters on post-verdict proceedings deal with motions seeking post-verdict relief, and sentencing and appeal. This book is intended for use in a second-level course on criminal procedure, in that it assumes basic knowledge of constitutional doctrines. Footnotes are included along with a subject index.