Assignment 8: Pretrial Process - Key Terms and Review Questions

This assignment delves into the pretrial process, encompassing key terms and review questions. It begins with defining terms like arraignment, bail bond, change of venue, and others, offering concise explanations of each. The assignment then addresses review questions, such as the arguments for and against self-representation in felony prosecutions, the implications of the Eighth Amendment regarding bail, and the role of plea bargaining and the right to a speedy trial. The responses include relevant case law and legal concepts, such as the Bail Reform Act of 1984, the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, and the functions of grand juries. The student has also included a comprehensive list of references to support their answers.

Running head: ASSIGNMENT 8
QUESTION-ANSWER ON THE PRETRIAL PROCESS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors note

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Answer- Key terms
1. Arraignment is a legal reading of a document in the presence of the defendant of a
criminal prosecution reminding about the charges which have been brought against that
defendant.
2. A bail bond is usually considered to be a document by which a convict or one or more
collaterals promises to pay an amount which is fixed by the court. If based on that
payment the convict released on bail then the convict only needs to attend the hearing of
charges.
3. Change of venue is a legal term the meaning of which is the transmission of a case from
one court in one place to a court in another place, or from one court to another situated in
the similar jurisdiction due to the justice or for the party’s or witness’s suitability.
4. A ‘citation’ is a technique by which a person informs his/her readers that some materials
in his/her work came from dissimilar sources. Citation also provides the readers with the
requisite information about some details, such as the author’s information, work title.
5. Under the procedural law of America, when a hearing, trial or other organized
proceedings of court is postponed due to the appeal, of anyone or both the parties
involved in a dispute, or spontaneously by the judge.
6. The adjudication procedure of criminal law is known as the criminal procedure. While
the criminal process varies widely according to jurisdiction, it usually starts with a
criminal charge officially brought against a person on trial, either in bail or detention,
resulting in the defendant’s conviction or release.

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7. A criminal prosecution progresses over a variety of phases, starting from an arrest to a
pre-trial, or post-trial stage. The other phases include bail, arraignment, preliminary
hearing, pretrial motions, trial, sentencing, and appeal.
8. In the case of the United States and Canada, a deposition is considered to be a law and an
inspection for detection respectively. In this case, an individual appears at a specific time
and place where sworn testimony is given usually under oath within the presence of a
court reporter so that a record can be made.
9. In law, a motion that seeks an order of a trial court completely for the placing of all or
any part of the claims for the moving party without the requirement for additional
proceeding of the trial court is known as a dispositive motion.
10. Excessive bail is regarded to be as an amount of bail the order of which is posed by a
defendant which is more than a usual amount. Excessive bail amount ensures the
appearance of the defendant before a court of law, especially where the crime is serious.
11. A judicial officer is authorized or specified with processes by the Bail Reform Act, 1984
to provide discharge order or confinement order of an arrested individual awaiting trial,
sentence or appeal.
12. A Grand Jury is a jury of a group of individuals, allowing civil prosecutions and alleged
criminal actions to be investigated by determining which criminal charges need to be
brought.
13. A complaint filed under oath by a lawyer charging one or more suspects with the
commission of a crime.

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14. The first presence of a convicted defendant before a Judge or a magistrate usually is
known an initial appearance which is also called as warrant arraignment or original
request.
15. It has been stated by the Jencks Act of 18 U.S.C. § 3500 that it is required by the
government to make verbatim statement or report prepared by a witness or potential
witness of government when such witness is testified.
16. Jurisprudence is considered to be the functional authority which is granted to a legal
authority to control law and order in a particular area, for instance, tax law in Michigan.
For federations such as the United States, jurisprudence exists at regional, state and
federal level.
17. A motion is a strong form of contested action which can avoid the coldness of a case. The
judge usually determines the case in favour of the defendant while allowing a motion to
dismiss and the plaintiff has also the chance to go for a trail.
18. Under the criminal proceedings, a no-contest plea is a plea which it is used as an
alternative to a culpable or non-culpable conviction, where the defendant does not deny
and does not admit the offence.
19. A minor offence, the penalty of which is normally a small fine or a short sentence of
imprisonment is called a petty offence.
20. To plead guilty means a crime has been admitted by an individual and thus the
punishment for the crime has been automatically imposed.
21. The meaning of a plea of not guilty means it is believed by an individual that no law has
been violated by him or her.

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22. A preliminary hearing is best characterized as a phase defined before the court as a ‘trial
before the trial’ where the judge determines, not whether the accused is criminal or not
guilty, but whether there exists sufficient proof to compel the accused to stand trial.
23. Pretrial detention applies to the imprisonment, either on account of failure to post bail or
because the release of an arrested person was refused under the pretrial detention process
before court.
24. Discoveries performed before the trial are considered preliminary tests, to disclose the
truth and to establish evidence.
25. The prosecution and defence team usually appear before a judge of a criminal court to
make pre-trial motions after the preliminary hearing and before a criminal case which is
known as pre-trial motion.
26. The preliminary release shall be given in return for the amount set by the judge is called
bail or in case of absence of a bond is called released on their recognizance.
27. The release of an individual’s recognition (ROR) is a written promise signed by the
defendant agreeing and pledging to not involve in criminal activity in future court
proceedings during a ROR.
28. The Speedy Trial Provision of the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution states that
the accused shall have the right to a fair jury in all criminal proceedings.
29. . Right to a lawyer means that a defendant is entitled to represent himself which allows
the government to hire one or lawyer to compensate for legal fees of a defendant if the
defendant is not capable to afford a lawyer.
30. Self-representation is considered to be an opportunity to protect the needs of minority
citizens.

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31. The Speedy Trial Act, 1974 was designed to govern the time when a trial would begin
and ensure there is no unreasonable delay in criminal proceedings.
32. A subpoena or summons or summons is a document from a government body, usually, a
court, requiring a deposition by a witness or providing evidence in compliance with
punishment for failure.
33. The summary jury trial is an alternative method for conflict resolution that is more
extensively used in American civil disputes.
34. Suppression of evidence is a term which is used to describe the legal act of removing
proof from showing in a court in the United States legal system.
35. Generally, a surety bond or collateral is the assurance to pay a certain amount to one
party, if the second party refuses or fails to satisfy other obligations, including the
fulfilment of contractual terms.
36. Under the law, the venue is the appropriate and suitable place where a case is heard.
Review question
1.
Sometimes without legal training defendants represents their case because of the cost as
hiring a private counsel is very costly. Secondly, court-appointed attorneys do not have much
time to devote in a particular case (Korngold et al., 2015).
Generally, a self-represented defendant does not get any assistance or advice from the
trial judge on the matter of law, trial practise or evidence (Poppe & Rachlinski, J2015).

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2.
Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bell, excessive fine and cruel punishment.
However, if the offence is bailable it guarantees the right to pretrial release on bail in a felony
case. In the case of a misdemeanor, the guarantee is also given by the Eighth Amendment
(Russell, 2015).
United States vs. Salerno [1987] 481 U.S. 739 case was dealt with Bill Reform Act.1984.
In this case, the court held that 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e) is not facially unconstitutional under the Due
Process Clause or the Unreasonable Bail Provision, despite the clear and persuasive legislative
intent of the Bail Reform Act and the procedural protections it provides. The decision has
correctly taken by the court.
3.
Through a plea bargaining, a prosecutor persuades a defendant to plead guilty to a
criminal charge without running afoul of due process.
‘Racial hangups’ prosecutorial tactics are likely to be viewed as fundamentally unfair
(Wynbrandt, 2016).
4.
The right of a defendant to a speedy trial should be officially recognized and covered by
law or by a statute that imposes out-of-date limitations on the amount of time that can elapse
from the date of a particular incident before the jury or other disposition of the case is resumed.
Whereas, other factor influencing, in the interests of justice, the time during which the
defendant is to be tried on the new charge (Miller, 2016).

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5.
Grand juries play a major role in the criminal justice system in the United States. Special
Prosecutor Robert Mueller called for a federal grand jury to assist him in investigating the
involvement of Russia in the 2016 election (Simmons, 2016).
A persistent critique of the grand jury system is that the judges lack legal expertise, and
they cannot determine if there is ample proof for an indictment to be brought.

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Reference
Korngold, C., Ochoa, K., Inlender, T., McNiel, D., & Binder, R. (2015). Mental health and
immigrant detainees in the United States: Competency and self-representation. The
journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 43(3), 277.
Miller, M. (2016). More Than Just a Potted Plant: A Court's Authority to Review Deferred
Prosecution Agreements Under the Speedy Trial Act and Under Its Inherent Supervisory
Power. Mich. L. Rev., 115, 135.
Poppe, E. S. T., & Rachlinski, J. J. (2015). Do Lawyers Matter: The Effect of Legal
Representation in Civil Disputes. Pepp. L. Rev., 43, 881.
Russell, S. F. (2015). Jury sentencing and juveniles: Eighth Amendment limits and Sixth
Amendment rights. BCL Rev., 56, 553.
Simmons, R. (2016). The role of the prosecutor and the grand jury in police use of deadly force
cases: Restoring the grand jury to its original purpose. Clev. St. L. Rev., 65, 519.
Wynbrandt, K. (2016). From False Evidence Ploy to False Guilty Plea: an unjustified path to
securing convictions. Yale LJ, 126, 545.