Unfortunately, it is not always possible to schedule testimony to the minute. Your appearance may involve some waiting to be called before the grand jury itself, so we recommend that you bring some reading material along with you. All witnesses who testify before the grand jury, except federal employees, are entitled to the same witness fee and expenses which are available for testifying in court at trial.
In this hearing, a Magistrate Judge formally informs the defendant of the charges, which are contained in the indictment, and his or her bail conditions are reviewed. Witnesses are usually not needed at this hearing. Usually at this hearing the date is set for the case to be heard at trial. Before the trial, the court may hear motions made by the defendant or the United States.
These may include motions to suppress evidence, to compel discovery, or to resolve other legal questions. In most cases, witnesses are not needed at the motions hearing. If a witness is needed at this hearing, s he will receive a notice from the United States Attorney's Office. At some time before the trial date, the Assistant United States Attorney in charge of the case may contact you by letter or phone asking you to appear at a witness conference to prepare you for trial.
The purpose of this witness conference is to review the evidence you will be testifying about with the Assistant United States Attorney who will be trying the case. You are entitled to a witness fee for attending this conference.
In many felony cases, the only contact witnesses have with the prosecutors comes at the witness conference and at the trial. Normally, when the trial date has been set, you will be notified by a subpoena - a formal written order from the court to appear. You should be aware that a subpoena is an order of the court, and you may face serious penalties for failing to appear as directed on that subpoena.
Check your subpoena for the exact time at which you should appear. If for any reason you are unable to appear as the subpoena directs, you should immediately notify the Assistant United States Attorney who is working on the case. Felony trials don't always go on as scheduled. Sometimes the defendant may plead guilty at the last minute, and the trial is therefore canceled.
At other times, the defendant asks for and is granted a continuance. Sometimes the trial has to be postponed a day or more because earlier cases being heard by the court have taken longer than expected. Also, the United States Attorney's Office will do everything it can to notify you of any postponement in advance of your appearance at court. Although all of the witnesses for trial appear early in the day, most must wait for some period of time to be called to the courtroom to give their testimony.
For this reason, it is a good idea to bring some reading material or handwork to occupy your waiting time. If you are waiting in a courtroom, you should remember that it may be against the rules to read in court. A felony trial follows the same pattern as the trial of any other criminal case before the court. The prosecution and the defense have an opportunity to make an opening statement, then the Assistant United States Attorney will present the case for the United States.
Each witness that is called for the United States may be cross-examined by the defendant or the defendant's counsel. When the prosecution has rested its case, the defense then has an opportunity to present its side of the case. The United States may then cross-examine the defendant's witnesses.
When both sides have rested, the prosecution and the defense have an opportunity to argue the merits of the case to the judge or, in a case which is being heard by a jury, to the jury, in what is called a closing argument. The judge or the jury will then make findings and deliver a verdict of guilty or not guilty of the offense charged.
After you have testified in court, you should not tell other witnesses what was said during the testimony until after the case is over. Thus, you should not ask other witnesses about their testimony, and you should not volunteer information about your own. In a criminal case, if the defendant is convicted, the judge will set a date for sentencing. The time between conviction and sentencing is most often used in the preparation of a pre-sentence investigation report.
Even when a jury is permitted, both sides can agree to have the case tried before a judge only. In a jury trial, prospective jurors are randomly selected. After the selected jurors are sworn in, attorneys present an opening statement to the jury to outline what each side believes the evidence will show:. Home Learn How the Courts Operate. How the Courts Operate The Pennsylvania judiciary hears two types of cases: criminal and civil.
What is a Criminal Case? The course of a criminal case: Alleged crime occurs Arrest takes place Preliminary hearing is held ordinarily in one of the base-level courts to determine if the case should be brought to trial Trial takes place or defendant pleads guilty If there is a conviction, a sentencing hearing is held Defendant can appeal conviction to Superior Court. If the appeal is unsuccessful, it can go to Supreme Court. What is a Civil Case? It states that bail can be refused where an accused is charged with a serious offence and it can be established that they are likely to commit further serious offences if released on bail.
The Bail Act defines a serious offence as an offence that you could be punished by imprisonment for 5 years or more, if you are convicted. The Criminal Law Act defines an arrestable offence as an offence that you could be punished by imprisonment for 5 years or more, similar to the definition of a serious offence mentioned above.
Section 4 of the Criminal Law Act allows a Garda to arrest anyone that they have reasonable cause to believe is guilty of committing an arrestable offence. They can do this without a warrant. Anyone arrested for an arrestable offence without a warrant can be detained in a Garda station for up to 24 hours for questioning, before being charged or released.
Further information on your right to silence is available here. If you have a question about this topic you can contact the Citizens Information Phone Service on 07 Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm.
You can also contact your local Citizens Information Centre or Request a call back from an information officer. Introduction A crime is defined as an act which can be punished by the State.
Criminal offences can be: Summary offences Indictable offences Minor offences Serious offences Arrestable offences. Summary and indictable offences In Irish law criminal offences can be tried in two ways: In the lower court District Court in front of a judge without a jury In the higher courts Circuit Criminal Court , Central Criminal Court in front of a judge and jury A summary offence is an offence which can only be dealt with by a judge sitting without a jury in the District Court.
Examples of summary offences include the following public order offences: Begging in an intimidating or threatening manner. The penalty for being found guilty of this offence is a class E fine or up to one month in prison or both a fine and a term of imprisonment.
Threatening abusive or insulting behaviour in a public place. The penalty for a person found guilty of this offence is a class D fine or up to 3 months in prison or both a fine and a term of imprisonment. Are all indictable offences tried in the higher courts? Indictable offences can be divided into the following 3 categories: Offences which must always be tried on indictment in front of a judge and jury Offences which can be tried summarily or by indictment at the request of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the judge or the accused Offences which can be tried either summarily or on indictment at the request of the Director of Public Prosecutions, as long as the District Court judge agrees Offences which must always be tried on indictment in front of a judge and jury There are a number of offences which must be tried before a judge and jury and these offences are listed in the Criminal Procedure Act and the Criminal Law Rape Amendment Act These include: Offences under the Treason Act Murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder Piracy Rape Aggravated sexual assault There are also a number of other offences which cannot be dealt with in the District Court summary disposal and must be dealt with on indictment, for example: Assault causing serious harm.
The penalty on conviction for this offence is a fine or imprisonment for life or both. The statute or piece of law for this offence does not allow for this offence to be dealt with summarily.
The piece of law covering this offence states that it can only be dealt with on indictment. Offences which can be tried summarily or by indictment at the request of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the judge or the accused Certain offences can be dealt with in the District Court if the following 3 conditions are met: The court is of the opinion that the facts proved or alleged constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily in the District Court The accused person does not object to being tried in the District Court, even when told of their right to be tried by a judge and a jury The Director of Public Prosecutions DPP consents to the accused being tried summarily for the offence In practice, the judge looks to see what the DPP has directed and then asks the prosecuting Garda for an outline of the facts of the case.
Examples of some of the offences that can be dealt in this way are: Offences under Section 7 2 and Section 8 of the Criminal Law Act Offences under the Criminal Justice Theft and Fraud Offences Act Offences which can be tried either summarily or on indictment at the request of the Director of Public Prosecutions, subject to the agreement of the District Court judge Certain offences can be dealt with in the District Court if the following 2 conditions are met: The court is of the opinion that the facts proved or alleged constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily in the District Court The Director of Public Prosecutions DPP consents to the accused being tried summarily for the offence The offences in this category are created by statute piece of law , and the statute outlines the different punishments for the offences on summary conviction and on indictment.
0コメント