Crim Pro: Adjudication
December is rapidly approaching and you know what that means…
This time, it’s for my ONLY final of fall semester - criminal procedure!
QUICK BACKGROUND
Technically, this class is one of two criminal procedure courses (aka, “Crim Pro”) offered at HLS. The “Procedure” class focuses on law enforcement actions while the “Adjudication” class tackles what happens post-citation or arrest.
Though I didn’t plan it this way, the Crim Pro syllabus largely paralleled my work in the HLS defense clinic. This worked out EXTREMELY well for my ‘hands-on’ brain. Physically going through arraignments, performing bail arguments, and preparing for a jury trial definitely solidified these otherwise abstract concepts.
COURSE CONTENT
We covered a LOT of ground this semester…turns out, the process from “bail” to literal “jail” is quite lengthy. I’ve made a complete list below, along with one question or “fun” fact per topic!
RIGHT TO COUNSEL
A person is guaranteed a lawyer if accused of (1) a felony or (2) a misdemeanor where they actually receive a sentence of imprisonment. This creates a burden for the State to give indigent defendants a lawyer, which raises the next question…
INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL (IAC)
What happens if you’re given (or privately retain) a TERRIBLE lawyer? According to the Supreme Court, a convicted defendant can appeal on IAC grounds by showing (1) their lawyer didn’t act like a “reasonably competent attorney” AND (2) there is a “reasonable probability” that but for the lawyer’s errors, the trial result would have been different. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). This is nearly impossible to prove, so get yourself a good lawyer!
SELF-REPRESENTATION
Though you have a constitutional right to an attorney, you also have a right to represent yourself! The most famous example may be The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, who fought - and was denied - the right to represent himself at trial. This raised an important and ongoing question about self-representation: should we allow mentally ill defendants to represent themselves?
BAIL & DETENTION
Contrary to popular belief, bail is primarily a mechanism to ensure defendants return to court for their proceedings, not for public safety (that only enters the equation with certain violent crimes). Judges are NOT allowed to impose bail which they know a criminal defendant is unable to pay.
DECISION TO CHARGE
Prosecutors have effectively unlimited discretion over whether to charge, what to charge, and when to charge it (statutes of limitations notwithstanding). This has recently come into the public eye when prosecutors chose NOT to prosecute police officers after a shooting death; public pressure might make a difference, but courts cannot make a prosecutor bring criminal charges.
GRAND JURY
A Grand Jury is convened after a prosecutor charges a defendant, but before proceeding to trial; it’s essentially the public’s “stamp of approval” on the prosecutor’s charges. Based on testimony SOLELY from the prosecution and their witnesses, the grand jury must decide if probable cause exists that (1) a crime occurred and (2) the defendant committed it.
PLEA BARGAINING
Ready for a shocking fact (at least to me)? Approximately 95% of all criminal charges are resolved through guilty pleas. AKA, they are not tried in front of a jury. Is the Government just THAT good at identifying criminals and bringing them justice? No, not really. It means most people accused of a crime would rather take a reduced charge and sentence than risk incredibly high penalties at trial - regardless of guilt or innocence.
DISCOVERY
Discovery is the process of both sides turning over relevant evidence in order to fully develop a case. Most notably, the prosecution MUST provide all “exculpatory” evidence - anything that tends to show the defendant’s innocence - to the defense.
RIGHT TO A JURY
A few fun facts about juries: they can be UP TO twelve people (usually for more serious crimes - for example, the Rittenhouse homicide trial) but MUST be more than five. Furthermore, as of 2020, all juries MUST be unanimous to either convict or acquit (anything in between is considered a hung jury)
VENUE
Venue refers to where the trial takes place (generally in the same county where the alleged crime occurred). In certain situations, a defendant might ask for a ‘change of venue’ because the location is extremely prejudicial. The most notable example of venue change occurred in the 1992 trial of police officers accused of beating Rodney King; due to intense media coverage, the trial was controversially moved from Los Angeles (a very diverse area) to nearby Simi Valley (an upper-class, mostly white area).
SENTENCING
This is a SUPER complicated area, as our criminal justice system simultaneously tries to individualize punishments to fit a convict’s circumstances/level of culpability/prospect of rehabilitation and standardize punishments across the board for specific crimes. We have yet to strike an ideal balance!
REFORM
This is a slightly loaded section, as we discussed reform ideas in each section. Here, we concentrated on big picture ideas like prison abolition and restorative justice. These might seem like super radical, unattainable ideas, talking through the pros/cons/questions was eye-opening to say the least!
THE FINAL
The Crim Pro Adjudication final is a four-hour, open book exam. HLS finals are generally 3 or 8 hours long, but our professor chose the 4-hour format to give us a bit of breathing room (it’s written as a 3-hr test). As a horrendous typist, I am EXTREMELY grateful (although if I’m honest, I still prefer a nice 8-hr exam; plenty of time to mull over answers and THEN type them horrendously). All fall exams are remote, so I’ll likely take it from the comfort of my couch!
Can’t be too chill though - as per usual with HLS exams, this thing makes up my entire grade. Yikes.
Like any other test, Crim Pro will be a mix of doctrine- and policy-based questions. Unlike other courses, however, policy will likely feature more prominently than doctrine (there’s just not a ton of caselaw to work with). Additionally, though I only have the one final, my stress levels are not much lower than usual. I’m in court consistently throughout December and have a trial scheduled for the same week as said final, so…
