Criminal Law and Jury Procedure Quiz

Criminal Procedures

• Arrests require two elements: determination of the offense and reasonable grounds to suspect the offender.
• Police have three options for proceeding after determining an offense: appearance notice, arresting the suspect, or obtaining a warrant for arrest.

Arrest

• Appearance Notice: Used when the officer believes the accused will appear in court. Applicable to summary conviction, hybrid, and less serious indictable offenses.

Search Warrants

• Obtaining a warrant: An officer must attest before a judge/justice of the peace that an offense has occurred, and evidence exists at the location. If information came from an informant, the officer must justify the informant's reliability.
• Telewarrant: Obtained via telephone, fax, or email.
• Warrant Terms: Warrants typically specify a timeframe (e.g., between 6 AM and 9 PM) and the areas permitted for search. Only mentioned items can be seized; otherwise, any other illegal item can be seized. Officers are restricted to the warrant's terms.

Warrants (continued)

• Individuals refusing entry: Police can forcibly enter with a warrant.
• Exceptions to Search Laws: Controlled Substances Act allows immediate searches of locations other than private residences if illegal drugs are suspected. Provincial liquor laws allow warrantless searches of vehicles for liquor violations. Police can search vehicles if they become suspicious of a driver (eg. hiding something). Police can search non-private locations without a warrant for illegal weapons.

Jury Selection

• Benefits of Jury Trials Over Judge Trials: The public observes the conflict resolution process, jury reflects community conscience, defense needs only to convince one juror.
• Offenses requiring Jury Trials: Murder, treason, accessory to murder/treason, alarming the monarch, intimidating Parliament/legislature (threatening members), bribery of a judge, sedition/subversive offences (e.g., disturbing peace), piracy, inciting mutiny, and attempting/conspiring to commit any of the listed offences.
• Benefits of Judge Trials Over Jury Trials: Judges may be less prejudiced, jurors may let the disgust of an offense cloud their judgment, legal technicalities may confuse jury, jurors are often convinced by eloquent presentation and judges are trained to make decisions on fact and law.
• Impaneling: The process of selecting the 12 jurors.

Jury Selection (continued)

• Jury Selection Process: Create a list of potential jurors from residents in the court area; randomly select 75-100 names from the list; place the names in a barrel and draw them; the juror steps forward if their name is drawn; the judge can excuse someone with a personal interest in the case, relationship with a trial participant, or hardship; defense and crown can accept/reject jurors.
• Exemptions from Jury Duty: MPs, Senators, MPPs, Municipal officials, judges, justices of the peace, lawyers, law students, doctors, coroners, veterinarians, law enforcement officers, special constables, sheriffs, wardens, guards and their spouses, the visually impaired, those with a mental/physical challenge that impairs their ability to be a juror, anyone who has served on a jury in the last 2-3 years, anyone convicted of a serious indictable offense with no pardon.

Jury Selection (continued)

• Sequestration: Jurors are isolated until the decision is rendered. Purpose is to prevent juror influence from outside parties or those with vested interest in the outcome.

Types of Evidence

• Privileged Communications: These communications cannot be required in court (e.g., spouse, clergy), although a spouse can offer testimony on the defense's behalf.

• Similar Fact Evidence: Evidence that the accused committed similar offenses in the past. Crown uses this to suggest pattern of behavior. A Judge must approve evidence if relevant to the case. 

• Hearsay Evidence: Information relayed by someone other than the witness (e.g., "Bill said Jill saw him"). Usually not admitted, but allowed if the quoted person is dying.

• Opinion Evidence: An expert's opinion on case facts. Generally inadmissible unless the expert is qualified.

Types of Evidence (continued)

• Character Evidence: Evidence of a person's traits. Crown is limited to negative character traits due to potential prejudice. Defense is permitted to introduce positive character traits to establish credibility.

• Photographs: Photographs are admissible as evidence if they accurately depict the crime scene. The photographer/film processor must testify regarding how the image was obtained/processed

• Electronic Devices & Video Surveillance: Evidence from these sources are admissible, but only if the criminal code procedures regarding surveillance were followed (eg. a court order, 1 party agreement). Electronic surveillance should be a last resort.

• Polygraph Evidence: Polygraph tests are considered hearsay and are inadmissible. Polygraph operators can testify to what the subject said, but results and interpretations can't be discussed.

Types of Evidence (continued)

• Confessions: A confession is an accused person's acknowledgment that a charge is true. If a suspect's confession was made without being aware of their charter rights, the confession is not admissible. Inculpable (admission), and Exculpatory (denial) evidence classifications are also used 

• Illegally Obtained Evidence: Evidence obtained improperly is considered and assessed based on the severity of the offense, manner of the offense and manner in which the evidence was acquired.

Criminal Defenses

• Self-defense: The use of necessary and reasonable force to protect oneself, given the circumstances.

• Legal Duty: Law enforcement officers may use the force necessary to make an arrest; this allows them to act in ways, such as exceeding the speed limit, that would be considered an offense by others.

• Excusable Conduct: Examples are duress (threat of violence) and honest mistake.

• Mental Disorder: The use of mental disorder as a defense is a debated issue and the accused has to demonstrate they are unwell for the trial.  Mental fitness for trial; the length of the trial could be postponed. If the accused is deemed not criminally responsible for an offense due to mental disorder, the court must explicitly state this in their verdict. 

Criminal Defenses (continued)

• Intoxication: A person under the influence may be found guilty of general intent crime but not specific intent. For example, striking someone while intoxicated would be a general intent (assault), but specific intent (aggravated assault) would not apply.

• Automatism: Refers to unconscious, involuntary behavior, where the person is not aware of their actions (e.g., sleepwalking, convulsions, psychological stress).

• Consent: Consent can be a valid defence if the injured party freely and willingly allowed the actions. A football player, for example, consents to being potentially injured as part of the game by the act of agreeing to participate in the game.

• Entrapment: A police action that encourages or aids a person to commit an offense. However, entrapment is not recognized as a valid defense; it is viewed as police misconduct.

• Double Jeopardy: Prevents a person from being tried twice for the same offense. If someone is found not guilty or already found guilty on a previous occasion then they cannot be tried again.  Two pre-trial pleas for double jeopardy cases are Autrefois Aquit and Autrefois Convict.

Rates of Incarceration (2000)

• Data for 2000 (US, New Zealand, Britain & Wales, Canada, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland) on the rate of incarceration per 100,000 citizens is provided in a list format.