Criminal Legal Process

Catalog description

This is a procedural law course which includes an overview of the law of arrests, search, and seizure, the making of bail, adjudication, pre- and post-trial activities and the nature of plea bargaining. Substantial emphasis is given the constitutional protections afforded through the Bill of Rights. This course examines procedures used by American police, prosecutors, and courts to bring criminal cases to trial and explores some of the defendant’s rights at trial and on appeal. The course will consider the Common Law, constitutional, and statutory bases of procedural practices in American criminal law. The student will be exposed to a comprehensive overview of the processes involved in the use of criminal evidence including rules of evidence; arrests, searches, and seizures; interrogations, confessions, and non-testimonial evidence, impeachment and cross-examination of witnesses; opinion evidence; hearsay evidence; and articles and exhibits of evidence.