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Court Organization and Structure MCQ

_____ is known as an order from an appellate court, such as the U.S. Supreme Court, to a lower court requesting that the lower court send the record in the case forward for review. It means that the appellate court will review the lower court’s decision for procedural mistakes or legal errors.

Answer

Correct Answer: Writ of certiorari

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_____ is defined as french for “to see to speak.” The process of questioning a potential juror to determine whether the juror is unbiased and can decide the case fairly and impartially.

Answer

Correct Answer: Voir dire

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_____ is the same as geographic jurisdiction.

Answer

Correct Answer: Venue

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Is venire the list of names from which actual jurors will be chosen. Also known as the jury pool?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as a document reflecting the grand jury’s decision to indict.

Answer

Correct Answer: True bill

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_____ is defined as an appeal for a new trial in the court of original jurisdiction, requested by the losing party of a case.

Answer

Correct Answer: Trial de novo

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_____ is authority conferred on a court to hear a particular type of case.

Answer

Correct Answer: Subject matter jurisdiction

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Is standing mute refusing to plead; in these instances, the court enters a “not guilty” plea for the defendant, thus preserving the defendant’s constitutional right to trial?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as rule that U.S. Supreme Court justices follow in deciding whether to review a lower court decision. The case will be heard and the writ issued if four of the nine justices agree to hear the appeal.

Answer

Correct Answer: Rule of four

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_____ is defined as hired by the state to work for defendants who cannot afford to hire their own lawyers.

Answer

Correct Answer: Public defenders

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_____ is attorneys responsible for prosecuting cases on behalf of the state.

Answer

Correct Answer: Prosecutors

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Is pro se when defendants serve as their own lawyer and represent themselves?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as the stage in the pretrial process during which the judge determines if there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that it was the defendant who committed it. If probable cause is established, the defendant is “bound over” for trial. The preliminary examination is a formal adversarial proceeding, conducted in open court.

Answer

Correct Answer: Preliminary hearing

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_____ is defined as the authority of a court over a person.

Answer

Correct Answer: Personal jurisdiction

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_____ is during the jury selection process, the prosecutor and the defense attorney each have a limited number of peremptory challenges, which they can use to excuse prospective jurors from the jury pool without giving reasons for removing them.

Answer

Correct Answer: Peremptory challenge

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Is original jurisdiction the power of the court to hear the case initially and where the trial takes place?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as statement given by a defense attorney or prosecutor prior to the introduction of evidence in a trial. The opening statement usually gives an overview of the case and the evidence that will be presented from the point of view of the attorney making the statement.

Answer

Correct Answer: Opening statement

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_____ is defined as a plea in which the defendant accepts whatever punishment the court would impose on a guilty defendant but refuses to admit liability. This plea is frequently used by defendants who fear being exposed to civil liability for their criminal misdeeds. Also known as a “no contest” plea.

Answer

Correct Answer: Nolo contendere

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_____ is also referred to as nolo contendere, means the defendant accepts whatever punishment the court would impose on a guilty defendant but refuses to admit liability. This plea is frequently used by defendants who fear being exposed to civil liability for their criminal misdeeds.

Answer

Correct Answer: No contest

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Is no bill a document reflecting the decision by the grand jury not to vote for an indictment?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as a hybrid method of judicial selection that combines appointment and election. A judicial nominating commission, which is usually composed of laypersons, lawyers, and judges, screens potential candidates and nominates several individuals (typically three) for the vacant position. The governor then appoints one of the individuals nominated by the commission to the bench. After the initial term and at designated times thereafter, the appointee runs in a retention election in which the voters are asked whether the judge should be retained or not.

Answer

Correct Answer: Merit system (Missouri plan)

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_____ is defined as lower level judges who conduct preliminary proceedings in cases before the district court and issue warrants.

Answer

Correct Answer: Magistrate judges

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_____ is the court is limited to hearing only a particular type of cases, such as traffic court, juvenile court, or probate court.

Answer

Correct Answer: Limited jurisdiction

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Is lay witnesses those who are called to testify at a trial about what they know of the matter at hand, and who possess no specialized knowledge?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as the list of names from which actual jurors will be chosen. Also known as the venire.

Answer

Correct Answer: Jury pool

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_____ is defined as individuals selected from the jury pool for a particular case.

Answer

Correct Answer: Jury panel

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_____ is prior to jury deliberation, the judge instructs jurors about the relevant law and how they are to apply the law in the particular case.

Answer

Correct Answer: Jury instructions

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Is jurisdiction the authority of a court to hear a case and render a decision?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as the Judiciary Act created a federal judicial system composed of the Supreme Court (with six justices), three circuit courts, and 13 district (or trial) courts.

Answer

Correct Answer: Judiciary Act of 1789

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_____ is defined as referees, responsible for enforcing court rules, instructing the jury on the law, ruling on the admissibility of evidence, and determining the law.

Answer

Correct Answer: Judges

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_____ is the first court appearance. Once a person is arrested, he or she must be brought before a magistrate “without unnecessary delay.” It is here that bail is set.

Answer

Correct Answer: Initial appearance

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Is indirect appeal an appeal that does not directly challenge the defendant’s conviction; the primary one is the writ of habeas corpus, which challenges the state’s right to incarcerate someone?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as formal process for removing judges. At the federal level, it involves impeachment (or accusation) of a federal judge in the House of Representatives and trial in the U.S. Senate. Most states also provide for impeachment of state court judges.

Answer

Correct Answer: Impeachment

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_____ is defined as the division of responsibilities and functions among the various courts.

Answer

Correct Answer: Hierarchical jurisdiction

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_____ is an indirect appeal that can be made by an incarcerated individual in which the authority of the state to incarcerate the individual is challenged. Habeas corpus requires the person to whom the writ is directed to either produce the person challenging his or her confinement or release that person from custody. A document challenging the legality of a person’s detention.

Answer

Correct Answer: Habeas corpus

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Is geographic jurisdiction the authority of courts to hear cases that arise within specified boundaries, such as city, county, state, or country?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as a court that has the authority to hear a variety of cases. The court is not limited to one type of case.

Answer

Correct Answer: General jurisdiction

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_____ is defined as witnesses relied on to introduce scientific and other complicated forms of evidence.

Answer

Correct Answer: Expert witnesses

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_____ is appeals court justices will sit as a group, consisting of every judge on the court, to clear up any conflicting decisions.

Answer

Correct Answer: En banc

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Is election the most commonly used form of judicial selection. The vast majority of state court judges are elected. Elections can be either partisan or nonpartisan?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as a situation where the opposing parties are from different states.

Answer

Correct Answer: Diversity of citizenship

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_____ is defined as the process by which both parties to a case learn of the evidence the opposing side will use at trial.

Answer

Correct Answer: Discovery

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_____ is questioning of a witness by the attorney who called the witness to the stand.

Answer

Correct Answer: Direct examination

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Is direct appeal an appeal by a defendant claiming he or she did not receive a fair trial. It is allowed by every jurisdiction by statute; it is not a constitutional right?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as attorneys who represent the defendant in a case as effectively as possible while acting within the rules of the court.

Answer

Correct Answer: Defense attorneys

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_____ is defined as questioning that follows the direct examination of a witness. The attorney who did not call the witness to the stand has an opportunity to question the witness about the statements made during the direct examination.

Answer

Correct Answer: Cross-examination

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_____ is the officials—judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, and courtroom support staff—who work together day after day to process the criminal and civil cases that come before the court.

Answer

Correct Answer: Courtroom workgroup

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Is court reporter someone whose job it is to record all the court proceedings and to produce a transcript of the trial?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as act of Congress that created the circuit courts of appeal, a new layer of intermediate appellate courts that would hear appeals from the district courts, and gave the Supreme Court more discretion in deciding which cases to hear.

Answer

Correct Answer: Court of Appeals Act of 1891

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_____ is defined as someone who maintains the records of all cases, prepares the jury pool, issues summonses for jury duty, and subpoenas witnesses who will testify at trial.

Answer

Correct Answer: Court clerk

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_____ is individual responsible for facilitating the smooth flow of cases. He or she maintains the court records, schedules cases for hearings and for trial, and manages court personnel.

Answer

Correct Answer: Court administrator

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Is complaint the criminal process may begin with the filing of a complaint. It may be filled out by a police officer, a prosecutor, or a private citizen. If an arrest is made first, a complaint will be sworn out afterward, usually by the arresting officer. The complaint serves as the charging document for the preliminary hearing?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is the statement given by a defense attorney or prosecutor at the end of a trial (after all evidence has been presented) that summarizes the case to the judge or jury and reinforces the arguments made by each side.

Answer

Correct Answer: Closing argument

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Is challenge for cause during the jury selection process, the method used by the prosecutor or the defense attorney to remove impartial prospective jurors from the jury pool. Jurors can be removed, for example, if there is evidence that they are biased against one side or the other or if they have made up their minds about the defendant’s guilt or innocence prior to hearing the evidence in the case?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is An administrative procedure involving the entry into the police blotter of the suspect’s name, arrest time, offense charged, and the taking of fingerprints and photographs.

Answer

Correct Answer: Booking

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Is bench trials trials in which a judge, rather than a jury, renders a decision between two panels of justices, involving the same legal issue?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as usually an armed peace officer (often a sheriff’s deputy) whose job is to maintain order in the courtroom and transport incarcerated defendants to and from court proceedings. At the federal level, bailiffs are U.S. Marshals.

Answer

Correct Answer: Bailiff

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_____ is defined as an administrator who sets prosecution priorities for deputy attorneys general.

Answer

Correct Answer: Attorney general

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_____ is courts established under the authority of Article III of the Constitution.

Answer

Correct Answer: Article III courts

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Is arrest occurs when a reasonable person would conclude that the police in some way had restrained his or her liberty so that the person was not free to leave?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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_____ is known as the stage in the pretrial process when the defendant enters a plea.

Answer

Correct Answer: Arraignment

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_____ is defined as the oldest method of selecting judges by the chief executive of the jurisdiction (the president of the United States or the governor of an individual state). All 13 of the original colonies used it, and it is used today in the federal system and about 20 states.

Answer

Correct Answer: Appointment

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_____ is the power of a court to review a decision of a lower court.

Answer

Correct Answer: Appellate jurisdiction

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Is alford plea a plea in which the defendant enters a guilty plea but denies having committed the crime to which he or she is pleading?

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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How many federal circuit courts are there?

Answer

Correct Answer: 13

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What type of jurisdiction involves the authority conferred on a court to hear a particular type of case?

Answer

Correct Answer: Subject matter jurisdiction

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What sources may be used to identify eligible members of the community for jury duty?

Answer

Correct Answer: All of these sources

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Which system of legal defense is most often found in large, urban areas?

Answer

Correct Answer: Public defenders

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Which method of judicial appointment is also known as the Missouri plan?

Answer

Correct Answer: The merit system

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A writ of habeas corpus is also known as what type of appeal?

Answer

Correct Answer: Indirect

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Which tier of the federal court system is known as that of the “last resort?”

Answer

Correct Answer: The U.S. Supreme Court

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Which of the federal court tiers consists of courts of original jurisdiction?

Answer

Correct Answer: District courts

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Which of the following is not one of the common methods of selecting judges?

Answer

Correct Answer: Impeachment

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Typically, the jury has little to do with imposing the sentence on a guilty defendant.

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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A specialized case, such as a homicide or sex crime, is typically dealt with vertically.

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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The district court is the trial court for the federal court system.

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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During trial, the judge does little more than hand down sentence upon a guilty defendant.

Answer

Correct Answer: False

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Limited jurisdiction means that a court is limited to hearing only a particular class of cases.

Answer

Correct Answer: True

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The current trend is that the number of criminal federal cases is slightly decreasing.

Answer

Correct Answer: False

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