Severe defects in trial proceedings that require reversal of a conviction and remand for
a new trial in order to avoid a miscarriage of justice are called
a. plain error
b. harmless error
c. reversible error
d. none of these answers is correct
In what case did the Court hold that a plea of guilty was more than an admission of
guilt and also involved the waiver of important constitutional rights?
a. Boykin v. Alabama.
b. Santobello v. New York.
c. Lafler v. Cooper.
d. Missouri v. Frye.
What is the criminal lawyer’s most important commodity in securing clients?
a. fee
b. legal background
c. appearance
d. reputation
A prison sentence that ranges from one to five years is a(n)
a. parole sentence
b. indeterminate sentence
c. mandatory minimum sentence
d. determinate sentence
The Uniform Crime Report’s Type I offenses are also referred to as
a. index crimes
b. felony crimes
c. serious crimes
d. violent crimes
The crime control model begins with the premise that crime is the product of
a. moral breakdown
b. justice breakdown
c. divorce
d. family breakdown
CASE 10.3
Deciding whom to release and whom to detain pending trial poses critical problems for
American courts. The realities of the bail system in the United States reflect an attempt
to strike a balance between the legally recognized purpose of setting bail to ensure
reappearance for trial and the working perception that some defendants should not be
allowed out of jail until their trial.
Which of the following factors reflects a law in action approach to bail setting?
a. There is a serious risk that the person will flee.
b. The person may obstruct justice.
c. The offense is one of violence.
d. The jail is overcrowded.
The three most prominent defendant characteristics used in the discussion of crime and
crime policy are
a. age, race, and marital status
b. race, education, and income
c. family background, sex, and age
d. sex, poverty, and race
What is the name of courts that use therapeutic jurisprudence?
a. problem-solving courts
b. intermediate appellate courts
c. supreme courts
d. lower courts
Which of the following is the exclusive domain of the prosecutor?
a. charging
b. arraignment
c. arrest
d. bail
Merit selection is commonly referred to as the
a. California System
b. New York Bar System
c. Delaware Selection Method
d. Missouri Bar Plan
The key goal of the crime control model is:
a. repression of criminal conduct
b. the rights of defendants
c. the rights of victims
d. the integrity of the courts
CASE 8.3
For most Americans, the judge is the symbol of justice. Of all the actors in the criminal
justice process, the public holds the judge most responsible for ensuring that the system
operates fairly and impartially. And most certainly the trappings of officethe flowing
black robes, the gavel, and the command “All rise!” when the judge enters the
courtroomreinforce this mystique. As important as these symbols are, they sometimes
raise obstacles to understanding what judges actually do and how they influence the
criminal justice process.
The formal powers of judges extend
a. throughout the criminal court process
b. from arrest throughout the criminal court process
c. from the time an offenders commits a crime to prison.
d. None of these answers is correct
Intermediate courts of appeals do which of the following?
a. These courts carefully review evidence presented at a trial.
b. These courts determine whether technical violations of the law were committed at
trial and release affected defendants.
c. These courts review trial proceedings to make sure the law was followed and that the
defendant received a fair trial.
d. All of these answers are correct.
In which of the following crime labs have significant error in laboratory testing been
documented?
a. federal crime labs
b. members of larger juries more accurately recall evidence.
c. federal, state, and local crime labs
d. local crime labs
What is a key issue in the ongoing debate regarding the exclusionary rule?
a. costs of the rule
b. difficulty in implementing the rule
c. gains of the rule
d. there is no debate regarding the exclusionary rule
CASE 9.1
Dharun Ravi, a freshman at Rutgers University, used a web cam to spy on his gay
roommate’s dorm-room sexual encounters and streamed the video (Shallwani, 2012). A
few days later his roommate Tyler Clementi, a talented young musician, committed
suicide. These events quickly became the subject of intense national interest and Ravi
was charged under New Jersey law with hate crime, invasion of privacy, witness
intimidation, and bias intimidation (but not murder).
What was the basis of the governments’ case?
a. twitter feeds, Facebook posts, text message, e-mails and other chatter
b. eyewitness testimony and forensic evidence
c. forensic evidence and confession
d. eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence
What race of defendants is mostly like to be imprisoned?
a. white
b. Hispanic
c. Asian
d. Black
What status do defense attorneys hold in the courtroom work group?
a. they are the least powerful member of the courtroom work group
b. they are the most powerful member of the courtroom work group
c. they are moderately powerful members of the courtroom work group
d. defense attorneys are not part of the courtroom work group
A plea of _____ is the criminal equivalent of a guilty plea.
Which of the following is a serious problem public attorney’s face in dealing with their
clients?
a. refusal to cooperate
b. dishonesty
c. deception
d. all of these are serious problems public attorneys face in dealing with their clients
CASE 15.3
Executions in the South clearly show major racial differences. Racial imbalances in
outcomes do not necessarily prove discrimination. Interestingly, many studies found
that the most obvious factorrace of the defendantwas not as important as the race of the
offender in combination with the race of the victim. This is the offender-victim dyad.
Which offender-victim dyad has research show is least likely to result in execution?
a. black offender, white victim
b. black offender, black victim
c. white offender, white victim
d. white offender, black victim
CASE 13.1
Throughout most of our nation’s history, the three broad constitutional provisions
dealing with trial by jury had little applicability in state courts. The U.S. Constitution
applied only to trials in federal courts. These practices changed dramatically, however,
when the Supreme Court decided Duncan v. Louisiana (1968), ruling that the jury
provisions of the Sixth Amendment were incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment to apply to state courts, as well. Subsequent decisions grappled
with the problem of defining the precise meaning of the right to trial by jury. The most
important issues concerned the scope of the right to a jury trial, the size of the jury, and
unanimous versus nonunanimous verdicts.
Stefanie is caught shoplifting at her local pharmacy. Which of the following is most
likely true?
a. she will have to testify if her case goes to trial
b. she does not have a right to a jury trial
c. she has a right to a jury trial
d. her jury trial must have 9 members
This principle distributes government power between national and state governments,
creating decentralization that compounds the fragmentation of the criminal justice
system.
a. federalism
b. deconstructionism
c. utilitarianism
d. nationalism
Most members of the courtroom work group are essentially part of what class?
a. the urban underclass
b. the lower class
c. the middle class
d. the upper class
Which of the following statements is not true of a presentence investigation report?
a. It includes police accounts of the crime.
b. It includes the defendant’s social history.
c. It is prepared prior to trial to assist the court in ruling on a lawyer’s motions.
d. It may include the defendant’s prior convictions.
Disparity refers to inconsistencies in sentencing. What is the principle topic of interest
in disparity?
a. the decision making process
b. the sentencing process
c. the defendant’s attributes
d. use of sentencing guidelines
Plea bargaining is arguably contrary to the concept of a(n)
a. presumption of guilt.
b. defendant’s free will.
c. adversary system of justice
d. impartial judge.
Maverick defense attorneys
a. most often get the best plea bargains for their clients.
b. work cooperatively with prosecutors to resolve cases quickly.
c. generally have few sanctions imposed on them.
d. are seldom able to negotiate the most lenient sentences.
CASE 16.1
Appeals courts approach appellate decision making in different ways, depending on the
types of questions presented for review on appeal. Sometimes appellate courts are very
deferential to what happened in lower courts, while other times they give no deference
at all. How much deference or scrutiny an appellate court will afford to the decisions of
a judge, jury, or administrative agency in an appeal is referred to as the standard of
review.
The least deferential standard of appellate review in criminal cases is
a. de novo
b. reasonableness
c. clear error
d. abuse of discretion
Grand juries have the power to grant witnesses immunity from prosecution.
In _____ bargaining, in return for the defendant’s plea of guilt to one or more charges,
the prosecutor dismisses the remaining charges.
Discuss the doctrine of parens patriae and its relevance to the juvenile court.
What is a “Boykin” form and what does it ask defendants?
Identify and explain the importance of the three key characteristics of the common law.
The right to cross-examination is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.
“Beyond a reasonable doubt” means over 95% certainty of guilt.
In Europe it is rare for a defendant to be sentenced to serve more than five years in
prison.
If a search warrant is issued, the police must execute the warrant immediately.
Researchers estimate that over 70 percent of all serious offenses are committed by
roughly seven percent of offenders, a group commonly referred to as _____.
Juveniles accused of _____ offenses, or who have a history of repeated offenses, may
be tried as adults.
The American Bar Association is the national _____ association.
Murder, rape, and robbery defendants are less likely to plead guilty than those charged
with less serious offenses.
Explain the three main methods of judicial selection.
Explain the historical evolution of the federal courts into their present structure and
operations, including the debate over states’ rights versus federalism.
Only about one-third of prisoners serve their full sentences and are then released
unconditionally.
Because of the special role that judges occupy in the adversary system, they are subject
to additional _____ constraints beyond those imposed on lawyers.
Law in action approaches to solving the problem of delay are ineffective because they
focus on coordinating the activities of the key actors in the courthouse.
Judges generally follow the sentencing recommendation provided in a probation
officer’s presentence investigation report.