Police, Prosecutor, and Jury Discretion Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Police, Prosecutor, and Jury Discretion Deck (13)
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1
Q

What are some of the reasons to have police discretion?

A
  • Could be a pocket of mercy that smooths relations with the community (Facilitate a peacekeeping function)
  • Police have limited resources and should be able to decide how to allocate
2
Q

What are some reasons to reduce police discretion?

A
  • Could be pretext for discrimination
  • Could be used to justify laziness
  • Parties reporting the crime could be in the best position to gauge the danger
3
Q

What expands police discretion?

A

Overcriminalization (could be one vague statute or a ton of narrow statutes that criminalize normal behavior)

4
Q

Is there a substantive due process limit on what can be criminalized?

A

Papachristou seemed to indicate yes (was deemed unamerican) but this eroded by the time we get to Morales

5
Q

What are the 2 ways a statute can be voided for vagueness? What doctrine voids them?

A

Voided by due process.

1) Fails to provide an ordinary person with fair notice of what conduct is forbidden
2) Encourages arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement

6
Q

What are the 2 ways to challenge the vagueness of a statute and what are the results if successful?

A

1) As Applied - Statute does not have a clear meaning in the context of a particular case, so it will not apply to that case
2) Facial - No matter the conduct, it is never clear if the statute applies, so it will be totally invalidated

7
Q

What is the standard for reasonable mistakes of fact and law?

A

4th amd is followed as long as the mistake of fact or law is reasonable

8
Q

Is a prosecutor’s decision not to bring a charge reviewable? Why not?

A

No (per Attica) because of the “manifold imponderables” that go into the decision are not well suited for judicial review; its better to concentrate the power in the hands of a democratically accountable party

9
Q

Is a prosecutor’s decision to bring a charge subject to judicial review?

A

Yes, if there is an impermissible reason like:

1) Vindictive/malicious prosecution
2) Discriminatory Prosection (Equal Protection violation) which must prove discriminatory effect and discriminatory purpose and its very difficult to get access to discovery

10
Q

What is the standard for a valid guilty plea?

A

Must be voluntary and intelligent with sufficient awareness of circumstances and likely consequences
Voluntary-cannot be induced by threats/lies/improper promises
Intelligent-advised by competent counsel

11
Q

What are the relevant amendments that guarantee the right to trial by jury?

A

The 6th amd (for fed system) the 14th amd (for the state systems because its part of fundamental fairness)

12
Q

What is the threshold for getting a jury trial?

A

Must be more than a petty crime (ie must have a max sentence of >6mo in jail)

13
Q

What is jury nullification?

A

when a jury chooses to acquit the defendant despite evidence establishing guilt
(a false conviction is not considered nullification because it can be appealed and reviewed for sufficiency)