Introduction to Criminal Justice Final Study Guide May 11th 2015 8 a m Chapter 8 13 50 questions multiple choice T F Voir Dire Potential jurors interviewed by the prosecutor and defense counsel o From website court The questioning of prospective jurors by a judge and attorneys in Voir dire is used to determine if any juror is biased and or cannot deal with the issues fairly or if there is cause not to allow a juror to serve o E g knowledge of the facts acquaintanceship with parties witnesses or attorneys occupation which might lead to bias prejudice against the death penalty or previous experiences such as having been sued in a similar case o Actually one of the unspoken purposes of the voir dire is for the attorneys to get a feel for the personalities and likely views of the people on the jury panel In some courts the judge asks most of the questions while in others the lawyers are given substantial latitude and time to ask questions o Some jurors may be dismissed for cause by the judge and the attorneys may excuse others in peremptory challenges without stating any reason Circumstantial evidence Witness didn t see the defendant commit the crime but did see an earlier argument o From website It is also known as indirect evidence It is distinguished from direct evidence which if believed proves the existence of a particular fact without any inference or presumption required Circumstantial evidence relates to a series of facts other than the particular fact sought to be proved o The party offering circumstantial evidence argues that this series of facts by reason and experience is so closely associated with the fact to be proved that the fact to be proved may be inferred simply from the existence of the circumstantial evidence E g if John testifies that he saw Tom and Ann go into another room and that he heard Tom say to Ann that he was going to shoot her heard a shot and saw Tom leave the room with a smoking gun then John s testimony is circumstantial evidence from which it can be inferred that Tom shot Ann The jury must determine whether John s testimony is credible 1 Grand Jury Meets in secret and returns the indictment o From website A panel of citizens that is convened by a court to decide whether it is appropriate for the government to indict proceed with a prosecution against someone suspected of a crime The Fifth Amendment to the U S Constitution o A person suspected of a federal crime cannot be tried until a grand jury has determined that there is enough reason to charge the person Grand juries are chosen from lists of qualified state residents of legal age o They have not been convicted of a crime and who are not biased against the subject of the investigation In arguing that a suspect should be charged prosecutors may make arguments and use information that would normally not be admissible during a trial o Witnesses who are called before a grand jury are not allowed to have an attorney present when they testify This holds true for a witness who may be a suspect A final concern is that grand juries meet in secret and a formal record of federal grand jury proceedings is not usually provided to the suspect even after indictment Prison overcrowding New sentence schemes nothing works o From website When the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners in the place Prison overcrowding can occur when the rate at which people are incarcerated exceeds the rate at which other prisoners are released or die thereby freeing up prison space o Courts are sentencing criminal offenders to serve prison time and not utilizing other programs like rehabilitation centers effectively Risks Solutions o Operating prisons over maximum capacity is expensive and inconvenient and dangerous for both prisoners and employees o Possible problems caused by prison overcrowding include Increased risk of violence and prison riots Spread of diseases within prisons o Other solutions that have been employed involve keeping offenders particularly those who commit non violent or less violent offenses out of prison o Alternate forms of sentencing are used including probation community service restitution diversion programs and house arrest o Additionally inmates may become eligible for early release from parole and other credits 2 Hearsay evidence isn t automatically excluded Spontaneous statements are admissible o From website Hearsay is an out of court statement made in court to prove the truth of the matter asserted In other words hearsay is evidence of a statement that was made other than by a witness while testifying at the hearing in question and that is offered to prove the truth of the matter stated E g Witness A in a murder trial claimed on the stand Witness B the declarant told me that the defendant killed the victim Spontaneous statements are exceptions o E g excited utterance In order to be a true impulsive utterance the statement has to have been made in conjunction with some event which would so be so overwhelming as to discount the possibility of fabrication Prisoner s mail can be censored Prisoners however still have constitutional rights o From website Inmates retain only those First Amendment rights such as freedom of speech which are not inconsistent with their status as inmates However this is in keeping with the legitimate objectives of the penal corrections system E g preservation of order discipline and security In this regard prison officials are entitled to open mail directed to inmates to ensure that it does not contain any illegal items or weapons but may not censor portions of correspondence which they find merely inflammatory or rude Deterrence Based on stopping future behavior o From website A theory that criminal laws are passed with well defined punishments to discourage individual criminal defendants from becoming repeat offenders and to discourage others in society from engaging in similar criminal activity Its primary goal is to discourage members of society from committing criminal acts out of fear of punishment o The most powerful deterrent would be a criminal justice system that guaranteed with certainty that all persons who broke the law would be apprehended convicted and punished However it is unrealistic to believe that any criminal justice system could ever accomplish this goal no matter how many law enforcement resources were dedicated to achieving it 3 Since many crimes are committed during the heat of the moment when an individual