CJUS P300 1st EditionFinal Study Guide Lectures: 12-21Lecture 12 What is attorney client confidentiality?Attorney client confidentiality is a highly protected privilege. It remains for the client throughoutthe case and even after the case is closed. The purpose of this privilege is because the attorneyclient relationship must be based on trust, it is a fiduciary duty. They (the lawyer) are there to represent you and your interests and they are ethically mandated not to share with others whatyou have told them in confidence.Exceptions to breaking confidentialityThere exist a few exceptions to breaking confidentiality. If a situation arises which will cause serious bodily harm or death to an individual then you are obligated to report that situation to the authorities. As well, you are immune from being sued or having an ethical complaint filed against you for breaching confidentiality. An example of this would be a child abduction situation. The other exception allows you to break confidentiality if you are being sued by your client. When you take the stand, you can say things that would otherwise have been considered to be confidential. What is requesting discovery? Within a case, discovery is everything that the prosecution has that they are going to use to prosecute the defendant. Discovery is an ongoing process; it begins at the beginning of a case and ends only when the case is over. The prosecutor MUST give the defense lawyer evidence they will be brining into court, especially exculpatory evidence. This is due to the fact that a defense lawyer can’t ask for evidence; the prosecutor must give the evidence to the defense. What is excluded from discovery?Work products of the prosecutor are not discoverable. This includes any notes that the prosecutor has made themselves for instance while they were interviewing witnesses. They are not required to hand over their own materials to the defense. What are depositions?They are statements that one side in a litigation or the other takes of witnesses. They are taken under oath and are recorded and transcribed. They can be used to impeach the witnessduring a trial if they say something different than what they stated in their deposition. Defense lawyers take them frequently but not as often as prosecutors. They are part of the discovery process. What is the defense lawyer’s role within the discovery process?Similar to the prosecutor, the defense must tell the prosecution what witnesses or experts you’re going to call and what evidence you will be using. However, this only applies to things that you are planning on introducing within the trial. What you do NOT have to do is tell the prosecutor if the defendant is going to testify or not. The only person who can make the deicison to testify or not to testify is the defendant. The defense, as well, does not have to hand over any of their work product. What are Ashton offenses?They are crimes of dishonesty. If you take the stand, then the prosecutor can bring them up because they’re crimes of dishonesty thus meaning you might be less than truthful when you’reon the stand. However, what that does not mean is you can bring up past convictions that are not Ashton offenses. For example, if your defendant is a child molester, the prosecutor can’t bring up past charges of molestation unless you open the door for it on the stand. What circumstances lead to a case being dismissed? A judge can dismiss a case if the prosecutor doesn’t fully comply with discovery. However, a case can also be dismissed by the prosecutor. They can dismiss a case either with prejudice or without. Without prejudice means the prosecutor can refile the case again in the future. They may choose to dismiss a case without prejudice because they lost a witness, they don’t have enough evidence, or the statute of limitations are about to expire. The prosecutor CAN NOT dismiss a case to avoid an unfavorable ruling by the court. If a case is dismissed with prejudice, then the defendant can go free. For instance, if the defendant pleaded guilty to some charges but not all, the other charges would be dismissed with prejudice. Lecture 13 Reasons to Plea Bargain:Time Constraints. Often, prosecutors get buried alive in work and defendants find that they can simply wait and their case will get dismissed due to limitations. Plea bargaining helps the prosecutor administer justice while also being time conscientious.Provides more certainty. It is never certain what is going to happen within a plea bargain, however you control to a great degree what will happen if the defendant takes the plea bargain. The only other uncertainty is whether or not the judge will accept it, however, most times they will. Responsibility to the victim(s). If you have a victim who is going to be traumatized by a trial then you have a responsibility to do something with the defendant to prevent that. Plea bargaining takes away the need for a trial thus ensuring you can further protect the victim. Note: You as the prosecutor need to decide what plea bargain you want to do based upon the evidence you already have. Also, pleading not guilty DOES NOT mean innocent. It means the state did not meet their burden of proof to the satisfaction of the judge or jury.Un-Negotiated Plea Bargains: The ProcessThe defendant can plead “cold” which means they are going to plead guilty to whatever the prosecutor has charged them with. The prosecutor can then stand “mute” which means they have agreed not to make an argument to the court. The judge will then decide what to do. This happens more often with lower crimes rather than with higher. Negotiated Plea Bargains: The ProcessThe defendant must be told about the plea agreement by their attorney. If they agree to the plea agreement, then the agreement must be put in writing and signed by the prosecutor, defendant, and defense attorney. The agreement is then brought before the judge. The judge can do one of three things. Accept the plea in which case everyone is then bound to the terms of the bargain. They can reject the plea and the trial will go on as usual. Or the judge can suggest changes to the agreement and the attorneys can go back and negotiate to the judges standards. Note: The victim of a felony must be informed of the plea bargain. Lecture 14Is access to a plea bargain a right?No, the prosecutor DOES NOT have to make you an offer. Conversely, the defendant does not have to accept an offer.