Criminal Trial Process MCQ

_____ is known as the simultaneous presence of two or more conditions; the concurrence of mens rea and actus reus generates criminal liability for an offense

Answer

Correct Answer: Concurrence

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_____ is exercising dominion and control over contraband

Answer

Correct Answer: Actual possession

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_____ is defined as an order from the U.S. Supreme Court ordering a lower court to forward the case record

Answer

Correct Answer: Writ of certiorari

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_____ is french “to speak the truth”; the questioning of potential jurors to determine if the venireperson can listen to the evidence and fairly and impartially decide the case

Answer

Correct Answer: Voir dire

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Is verdict form the form on which the jury enters their verdict?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as the place where a trial is held, usually in the same district that the crime was committed

Answer

Correct Answer: Venue

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_____ is defined as potential juror

Answer

Correct Answer: Venireman

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_____ is panel of potential jurors

Answer

Correct Answer: Venire

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Is true bill indictment returned by a grand jury?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as evidence generated by a witness answering questions in a legal proceeding

Answer

Correct Answer: Testimonial evidence

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_____ is defined as type of pretrial identification in which the suspect, alone, is brought before the witness for identification; the most suggestive type of pretrial identification

Answer

Correct Answer: Show-up

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_____ is a type of evidence usually introduced by experts, such as DNA

Answer

Correct Answer: Scientific evidence

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Is reverse and remand actions taken by an appellate court if it finds error in a lower court’s proceedings; the appellate court will reverse (overturn) the lower court’s decision and remand the case (send the case back to the lower court) for further proceedings consistent with the appellate court’s decision?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is defined as asking an eyewitness to identify an offender from six similar-looking people in a photo array. The witness tends to choose the person who looks most like the offender “relative” to the other five people in the array, but who may not actually be the culprit

Answer

Correct Answer: Relative judgment

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_____ is a series of motions brought to resolve issues before trial begins (e.g., venue and admission or exclusion of specific evidence and testimony)

Answer

Correct Answer: Pretrial motions

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Is pretrial identification before trial, the identification of the suspect by a witness?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as the assumption that, under the law, a defendant is innocent until the prosecutor proves each and every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt

Answer

Correct Answer: Presumption of innocence

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_____ is defined as an evidentiary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to hold the defendant for trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Preliminary hearing

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_____ is defendant pleads guilty in exchange for government’s lenient treatment either in reduced charges or a favorable sentencing recommendation.

Answer

Correct Answer: Plea pursuant to a negotiated agreement

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Is plea colloquy a series of questions asked of the defendant under oath by the judge in open court to ensure that the defendant is aware of the rights he is waiving by pleading guilty?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as a process of negotiation between the prosecutor and the defendant to avoid trial; the defendant pleads guilty to certain charges in exchange for concessions from the government

Answer

Correct Answer: Plea bargaining

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_____ is defined as a series of photographs of similar-looking people shown to a witness, who attempts to identify the perpetrator among them

Answer

Correct Answer: Photo array

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_____ is a limited number of strikes a lawyer may use to eliminate potential jurors; the government cannot base peremptory challenges on race or gender

Answer

Correct Answer: Peremptory challenge

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Is party opponent the party on the other side of the “v” in a case; when the opponent speaks, what they say may be used against them in court?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as the prosecutor and defense counsels’ opening remarks to the jury informing them what evidence they intend to introduce at trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Opening statements

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_____ is defined as operates as a guilty plea for a defendant who refuses to admit guilt

Answer

Correct Answer: No contest plea

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_____ is motion to exclude specific evidence at trial, typically on the grounds that the evidence was seized illegally

Answer

Correct Answer: Motion to suppress

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Is motion to sever motion to be tried separately from codefendants?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as defendant asks court to eliminate charges or dismiss the case

Answer

Correct Answer: Motion to dismiss

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_____ is defined as a motion to hold the trial in a different place than where the crime was committed; occurs most often because extensive pretrial publicity has compromised the defendant’s ability to receive a fair and impartial trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Motion to change venue

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_____ is motion for the court to rule on the admissibility of, or to limit, specific evidence before trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Motion in limine

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Is motion an oral or written application for a court order?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as circumstances tending to explain, but not excuse, the offender’s crime; introduced by a defendant at a capital murder trial and which will be weighed against the aggravating circumstances before sentencing

Answer

Correct Answer: Mitigating circumstances

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_____ is defined as judge declares trial fatally flawed; prosecution must start a new

Answer

Correct Answer: Mistrial

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_____ is a technique in which a witness stands behind a two-way mirror and looks at five or six similar-looking people lined up in an effort to identify the offender

Answer

Correct Answer: Line-up

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Is lay witness an ordinary person who can testify to matters such as intoxication, speed, insanity, and distance within the normal range of adult experience?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as rules and definitions of law that control the issues in the case; read to the jury by the judge before deliberations

Answer

Correct Answer: Jury instructions

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_____ is defined as defendant’s first appearance before a judge, typically within 72 hours of arrest

Answer

Correct Answer: Initial appearance

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_____ is a charging document filed by a prosecutor

Answer

Correct Answer: Information

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Is indictment formal felony charges brought by a grand jury?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as an out-of-court statement offered for its truth

Answer

Correct Answer: Hearsay

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_____ is defined as an admission of guilt by the defendant that negates the need for a trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Guilty plea

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_____ is an investigative body composed of ordinary citizens who determine whether there exists probable cause that a felony has been committed

Answer

Correct Answer: Grand jury

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Is eyewitness identification eyewitness identifies the defendant as the perpetrator. Such identifications hold great influence over juries, but may be unreliable?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as a witness, usually with particular expertise, who can testify about his opinion on an ultimate issue at trial on the basis of his knowledge, training, and experience; different rules apply when insanity is raised as a defense

Answer

Correct Answer: Expert witness

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_____ is defined as evidence tending to exonerate (prove the innocence of) the accused

Answer

Correct Answer: Exculpatory evidence

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_____ is trial and appellate courts at both state and federal levels

Answer

Correct Answer: Dual court system

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Is discovery the pretrial exchange of evidence between the prosecution and defense?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as open-ended questions that invite the witness to do all of the talking

Answer

Correct Answer: Direct examination

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_____ is defined as tangible items and witness testimony tending to prove a fact in the case

Answer

Correct Answer: Direct evidence

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_____ is illustrative evidence, such as a map, diagram, photograph, or model, used to help the jury understand the witness’s testimony

Answer

Correct Answer: Demonstrative evidence

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Is deliberations the decision-making process in which the jury engages to determine whether or not the accused is innocent?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as sitting a jury in a capital murder case where potential jurors must commit to seriously considering life without parole and the death penalty as punishment

Answer

Correct Answer: Death qualification

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_____ is defined as five-part analysis determining the admissibility of expert testimony in federal court

Answer

Correct Answer: Daubert test

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_____ is close-ended leading questions that can be answered yes or no

Answer

Correct Answer: Cross-examination

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Is conditional plea a guilty plea entered on the “condition” that the defendant preserves certain issues on appeal, such as the legality of the judge’s ruling on the suppression of evidence?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as the prosecutor and defense counsels’ final arguments to the jury to persuade the jury to find in their favor; arguments by counsel are not evidence

Answer

Correct Answer: Closing argument

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_____ is defined as indirect evidence from which the jury must infer (conclude) that the defendant is guilty as charged

Answer

Correct Answer: Circumstantial evidence

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_____ is a meeting during which the lawyers for both sides submit proposed jury instructions to the judge on the basis of the evidence introduced at trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Charge conference

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Is challenge for cause during jury selection, an argument made to the judge that a potential juror cannot be fair and impartial in deciding the case?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as tracks the physical evidence from its initial discovery to its presentation at trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Chain of custody

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_____ is defined as the prosecution’s obligation to introduce enough evidence to overcome the presumption (belief) that the defendant is innocent

Answer

Correct Answer: Burden of proof

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_____ is the taking of personal information of a suspect after arrest

Answer

Correct Answer: Booking

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Is beyond a reasonable doubt the legal standard at a criminal trial by which the prosecution has to prove each and every element of the crime to establish the defendant’s guilt?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as collateral (cash, property, assets) pledged before trial, usually by a suspect, his family, or friends, to secure his release and ensure attendance at trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Bail

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_____ is defined as deprivation of liberty

Answer

Correct Answer: Arrest

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_____ is court hearing where the defendant enters a plea to the charges

Answer

Correct Answer: Arraignment

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Is appellate court a higher court that reviews a lower court’s proceedings?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as a plea in which the defendant does not admit that he or she is guilty of the crime charged but admits that the government has sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction if the defendant chooses to go to trial

Answer

Correct Answer: Alford plea

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_____ is defined as those factors making the crime unusually heinous and perhaps warranting a more severe punishment; makes offenders death eligible in capital punishment trials

Answer

Correct Answer: Aggravating circumstances

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_____ is an appellate court’s decision to uphold a lower court’s decision

Answer

Correct Answer: Affirm

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Is adversarial system american justice is based on the prosecutor and defense acting as opponents as a way to learn the truth?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as forcing an eyewitness to confirm or deny a suspect is the perpetrator by showing one photograph at a time rather than six photographs simultaneously in a photo array

Answer

Correct Answer: Absolute decision

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Documentary evidence at trial is when witnesses speak from the witness stand under oath and give information to the court.

Answer

Correct Answer: False

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If a defendant files a motion to suppress, she typically seeks to keep out incriminating evidence at trial often on the grounds that the government seized evidence illegally.

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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Jury instructions do not define the elements of the crimes charged, give the applicable defenses, if any, and do not define burdens of proof and presumptions.

Answer

Correct Answer: False

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The U.S. Supreme Court is the country’s highest ______.

Answer

Correct Answer: Appellate court

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For the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a writ of certiorari to hear a case, the case must involve ______.

Answer

Correct Answer: A federal issue

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What is it called when the appellate court reviews and overturns the defendant’s conviction?

Answer

Correct Answer: Reversed

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During voir dire, what type of challenges are unlimited?

Answer

Correct Answer: For cause

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The “doubt” in “beyond a reasonable doubt” means ______.

Answer

Correct Answer: Doubt founded on reason

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The federal Speedy Trial Act law states a charging document must be filed ______ days after an arrest and trial must begin 70 days from the filing of the charging document.

Answer

Correct Answer: 30

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Anyone can be convicted and sentenced to jail for disclosing information shared at a(n) ______ because such proceedings are conducted in secret.

Answer

Correct Answer: Grand jury

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The legal process by which parties share evidence each party intends to introduce at trial is called ______.

Answer

Correct Answer: Discovery

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Research shows that the process of death-qualifying a jury means the jury is most likely to ______.

Answer

Correct Answer: Find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder

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The prosecutor has the power to offer plea bargains in exchange for testimony against defendants at trial. The corresponding defense protection is ______.

Answer

Correct Answer: To compel witnesses through the court’s subpoena power

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The right to counsel at a lineup, if violated, results in the pretrial identification ______.

Answer

Correct Answer: Held inadmissible at trial

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The primary criticism of an eyewitness’s confidence at trial that they are identifying the perpetrator who committed the crime is that accuracy of description is a poor predictor of ______.

Answer

Correct Answer: Accuracy of identification

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