Unit 9.

COURT PROCESS AND ETIQUETTE

Task 1. Read and render the following text.

TRIAL

The main steps in a trial include: selection of a jury; opening statements by the attorneys; presentation of witnesses and evidence (the complaining party always goes first, and the defense next); closing statements by the attorneys; instructions by the judge to the jury; and deliberation and decision by the jury.

The Trial as an Adversary Proceeding. A trial is an adversary proceeding, that is, a contest between opponents. Each party presents evidence and argument. The judge’s function is to control the contest as a neutral referee and to rule on questions of law. The jury’s function is to decide questions of fact.

Burden and Degree of Proof. The fact that a trial is a contest dictates the order in which its events proceed. The initial burden falls on the complaining party – the plaintiff in a civil case, or the state in a criminal case. The complaining party must first establish that party’s case. If the complaining party fails to establish a case, there is nothing for the defendant to refute.

Different kinds of cases require different degrees of proof. In most civil cases, the winner is the party whose position is supported by the preponderance of the evidence.

In a criminal case, the state must prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This means that even if a preponderance of the evidence favors the state, and even if the state’s evidence is convincing, the decision must be awarded to the defendant if a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt remains.

As a juror, you may sit on a criminal case, a civil case, or both.

Civil Cases. Civil cases are usually disputes between or among private citizens, corporations, governments, government agencies, and other organizations. Most often, the party bringing the suit is asking for money damages for some wrong that has been done. For example, a tenant may sue a landlord for failure to fix a leaky roof, or a landlord may sue a tenant for failure to pay rent. People who have been injured may sue a person or a company they feel is responsible for the injury.

The party bringing the suit is called the plaintiff; the party being sued is called the defendant. There may be many plaintiffs or many defendants in the same case.

The plaintiff starts the lawsuit by filing a paper called a complaint, in which the case against the defendant is stated. The next paper filed is usually the answer, in which the defendant disputes what the plaintiff has said in the complaint. The defendant may also feel that there has been a wrong committed by the plaintiff, in which case a counterclaim will be filed along with the answer. It is up to the plaintiff to prove the case against the defendant. In each civil case the judge tells the jury the extent to which the plaintiff must prove the case. This is called the plaintiff’s burden of proof, a burden that the plaintiff must meet in order to win. In most civil cases the plaintiff’s burden is to prove the case by a preponderance of evidence, that is, that the plaintiff’s version of what happened in the case is more probably true than not true.

Jury verdicts do not need to be unanimous in civil cases. Only ten jurors need to agree upon a verdict if there are 12 jurors: five must agree if there are six jurors.

Criminal Cases. A criminal case is brought by the state or by a city or county against a person or persons accused of having committed a crime. The state, city, or county is called the plaintiff; the accused person is called the defendant. The charge against the defendant is called an information or a complaint. The defendant has pleaded not guilty and you should presume the defendant’s innocence throughout the entire trial unless the plaintiff proves the defendant guilty. The plaintiff’s burden of proof is greater in a criminal case than in a civil case. In each criminal case you hear the judge will tell you all the elements of the crime that the plaintiff must prove; the plaintiff must prove each of these elements beyond reasonable doubt before the defendant can be found guilty.

In criminal cases the verdict must be unanimous, that is, all jurors must agree that the defendant is guilty in order to overcome the presumption of innocence.

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Jury is a group of layman who participate in deciding cases brought to trial. These laymen are recruited at random from the widest population for the trial of a particular case. They are allowed to deliberate in secrecy, to reach a decision, and to make it public without giving reasons. Throughout its history, it has been both overpraised as a charter of liberty and overcriticized as a reliance on incompetent amateurs in the administration of justice.

The process of choosing jurors is called “voir dire”. Potential jurors are interviewed in open court by each of the attorneys. There are two ways of rejecting potential jurors: “challenge for cause” and “peremptory challenge”.

Prospective jurors may be challenged for cause for any of a number of specific reasons. Some of the more obvious reasons include that a juror: is a witness in the case; is related to a party; has some close personal or business relationship to a party; has already served on a jury in a case involving one or more of the parties; has already formed an opinion or is otherwise biased; is an alcoholic, drug addict, mental incompetent, or convicted felon; does not speak or understand English well enough to follow the proceeding and participate injury deliberations. There is no limit to the number of prospective jurors who may be challenged for cause. Each time a prospective juror is excused, another will be interviewed.

When each side has run out of challenges for cause, each side may exercise its peremptory challenges. No reason need be given for peremptorily excusing a juror, but each party has only a limited number of peremptory challenges. In criminal cases the number of peremptory challenges allowed each party is six in capital cases, four in all other felony cases, and three in misdemeanor cases. Each party is allowed three peremptory challenges in civil cases. Beginning with the complaining party, each side takes turns exercising its peremptory challenges one at a time. A peremptory challenge is lost when the turn comes to use it and it is not used. When all challenges are used or passed, the jury is complete. The jury then takes an oath to do its duty.

Task 2. Find in the text the English equivalents for the words below. Compose your own sentences to show that you understand the meaning of the words above:

Суд першої інстанції; доказ; скоїти злочин; орендар; господар; вирішувати спори; відповідальний за збитки; позовна заява; обсяг дій; одностайний; винний; cпівбесіда з кандидатами у присяжні; відхилення на конкретній підставі; психічно хворий або вчинив тяжкий злочин; наглядати за судовою процедурою та брати участь у засіданні присяжних.

Task 3. Write a synonym or a short explanation for each of the following words. Use the dictionary if you need it.

Challenge for cause; potential jurors; voir dire; peremptory challenge; an alcoholic or drug addict; open court; proceeding;jury deliberations; mental incompetent, or convicted felon; obvious reasons.

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Дата добавления: 2015-07-19