Evidence: Chapter 2

Front 1

Jurisdiction

Back 1

legal authority of a court to hear a case; conferred by statutory or constitutional law; 4 primary types (personal, subject matter, geographic, and hierarchical)

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Personal Jurisdiction

Back 2

involves the authority of the court over the person

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Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Back 3

involves the authority conferred on a court to hear a particular type of case

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Geographic Jurisdiction

Back 4

refers to authority of courts to hear cases that arise within specified boundaries, such as city, county, state, or country; sometimes referred to as venue

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Change of Venue

Back 5

part of Geographic Jurisdiction; based on evidence that it is impossible for the defendant to get a fair trial in the original court, perhaps because of substantial adverse publicity

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Hierarchical Jurisdiction

Back 6

involves the division of responsibilities and functions among the various courts; can be general or limited, original or appellate

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General Jurisdiction

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part of hierarchical jurisdiction; court has authority to hear a variety of cases; civil cases involve a dispute between two private parties, such as ain contract or property law; criminal law involves a prosecution of an individual by the state for violating state criminal law; only applies to state courts

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Limited Jurisdiction

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part of hierarchical jurisdiction; a court is limited to hearing only a particular class of cases

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Original Jurisdiction

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part of hierarchical jurisdiction; power of court to hear the case intitially; the ocurt of original jurisdiction is where the trial takes place

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Appellate Jurisdiction

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part of hierarchical jurisdiction; power of court to review a decision by a lower court; appellate courts do not conduct a retrial- they are generally limited to a review of the trial record to determine if there were any major legal errors

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Federal District Court

Back 11

trial court; court of original and limited jurisdiction for both civil and criminal cases involving federal statutes; hear civil cases in which there is diversity of citizenship between the parties; hear any civil matter, even if it involves state law, if the amount in question exceeds $50,000 and the parties are citizens of different states; federal judges appointed for life

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U.S. States District Court

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in each district; judges range from 2 to 32

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Magistrates

Back 13

part of district courts; within each district court; subordinate judicial officers; conduct preliminary proceedings in cases before the district court and issue warrant

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Diversity of Citizenship

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part of district courts; situations in which the opposing parties are from different states

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Federal Court of Appeals

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also called circuit courts; 13 of them; judges appointed for life; appeals heard by three-judge panels

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En Banc

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part of Federal Court of Appeals; "as a group;" when conflicting decisions involve the same legal issue between two panels, the entire circuit may sit and rehear the case; federal law permits court of appeals with more than 15 active judges to sit en banc with less than all of its members

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Supreme Court******

Back 17

appellate and original jurisdiction; original jurisdiction- suits between states, suits between the U.S. and a state, and suits between a state and foreign citizen- rarely occur; bulk of cases consists of cases taken on appeal from either federal courts of appeal or state supreme courts; almost entirely discretionary; currently composed of nine justices, one of whom is the chief justice

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Writ of Certiorari

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part of Supreme Court; an order issued by the Supreme Court to the lower court to send the record of the case up the the Supreme Court

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Rule of Four

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part of Supreme Court; the justices vote on whether to accept a case; if four or more justices vote to accept a case, it is placed on the Court's docket

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Courts of Limited Jurisdiction (State)

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courts that deal with the less serious offenses and civil cases; referred to as justice of the peace court, magistrate's court, municipal court, and county court

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Trial de Novo

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part of Court of Limited Jurisdiction; an entirely new trial; not like a standard appeal in which the higher court concerns itself only with a review of the trial record and consideration of any possible legal errors

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Courts of General or Original Jurisdiction (State)

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trial courts for civil and criminal matters; also courts of original jurisdiction; trials for felonies held; authorized to hear any matters not exclusively designated for courts of limited jurisdiction; in some states they may even have concurrent jurisdiction with lower courts on some matters, such as misdemeanors; also hear appeals, in trial de novo form, from lower courts

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Trial Courts (State)

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part of courts of general/original jurisdiction; referred to as district court, circuit court, or superior court

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Intermediate Appellate Courts (State)

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part of court of general/original jurisdiction; referred to as court of appeals; hear felony appeals of right

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Court of Last Resort

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part of court of general/original jurisdiction; referred to as state supreme court

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Judge*****

Back 26

serves as a referee, responsible for enforcing court rules, instructing the jury on the law, and determining the law; as a whole, judges are not representative of American society; select judges by appointment, election, or merit system

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Appointment

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way to select judge; by chief executive of the jurisdiction (president or governor of state); used in federal system and 20 states

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Merit System

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way to select judge; referred to as Missouri Plan; three parts- a nonpartisan nominating commission selects a list of potential candidates, based on the candidates' legal qualifications, then the governor makes a selection from the list, and the person selected as a judge stands for election (retention) within a short time after he/she is selected, usually within one year

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Prosecutors

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private prosecution gave way to public prosecution as society came to view crime as an offense not just against the person, but against society as well; private prosecution is no longer permitted

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Attorney General

Back 30

part of prosecutors; a political appointee that is an administrator who sets prosecution priorities for deputee attorney generals

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Deputee Attorney Generals

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part of prosecutors; appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate and serve at the pleasure of the president

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Assistant United States Attorneys

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part of prosecutors; not political appointments

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State Prosecutors

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part of prosecutors; are usually elected officials; only four states do not have an elected district attorney; discretionary which is largely unreviewable

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Defense Attorneys

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expected to represent their client as effectively as possible while acting within the rules of the court; Sixth Amendment

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Retained Counsel

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part of Defense Attorneys; attorneys selected and paid by the defendant

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Public Defenders

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part of Defense Attorneys; hired by the state but work for defendants who cannot afford to hire their own lawyers

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Appointed Counsel

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part of Defense Attorneys; private attorneys who are paid by the state on a case-by-case basis to represent indigent defendants

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Pretrial Proceedings

Back 38

filing of complaint or arrest, then search and arrest warrant with affidavit filled out, then arrest and book suspect, then intial appearance, then preliminary examination, then charges filed by either information or indictment, then arraignments with plea given; LOOK IN BOOK

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Pretrial Motions

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motion to compel discovery, motion to suppress evidence; LOOK IN BOOK

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Jury Selection

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jury is selected from eligible members of the community who are selected at random; voir dire- process of questioning; challenged for cause, peremptory challenge; LOOK IN BOOK

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The Trial

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opening statements, direct examination, cross examination, objection, closing arguments, jury insructions, verdict; LOOK IN BOOK

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Appeals

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Direct appeal or indirect appeal (writ of habeus corpus); no federal constitutional right to an appeal, but every state allows a direct appeal by either statute or state constitutional provision; writ of habeus corpus- indirect because it does not directly challenge the defendant's conviction but instead challgenges teh authority of the state to incarcerate the defendant (basis for defendant's incarceration)- no time limit