Right to an Indictment:
- About half of the states follow the 5th Amendment requirement of a grand jury indictment
for capital or “infamous” crimes
- In other states, elected prosecutors determine whether to charge a defendant and what
crimes to charge
- Defendants charged with a felony by a prosecutor have the right to a preliminary
hearing
Right to a Fair (Not Perfect) Trial:
- Under the Due Process clauses of the 5th and 14th Amendments, the law does “not
require a defendant to receive a perfect trial, only a fair one”
- If a defendant is convicted in a trial where a harmless error occurred, the
defendant isn’t entitled to a new trial
- If an error during the trial is deemed harmful, reversible, or plain, the defendant is
entitled to a new trial or to have the charges dropped
Right to Assistance of Counsel:
- If charged with a crime, a person has the 6th Amendment right to counsel
- If the defendant cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided by the state or
federal government
- The right to effective counsel applies at all stages of a criminal prosecution
Strickland v. Washington (1984):
A convicted defendant claiming inadequate or ineffective defense must prove:
- The defense fell below an objective standard of reasonableness
- A reasonable probability exists that the results would’ve been different but for the
lawyer’s errors
Right to be Informed of Charged:
- The 6th Amendment provides that “the accused shall enjoy the right… to be informed of
the nature and cause of the accusation”
- Can be an issue when a defendant later seeks to retract a guilty plea because it
wasn’t “voluntary and intelligent”
Bousley v. United States (1998):
- A defendant’s guilty plea must be “voluntarily and intelligently” made in order to be
constitutionally valid
- If circumstances show that the defendant was misinformed by either the court or the
prosecutor, the guilty plea is invalid
- About half of the states follow the 5th Amendment requirement of a grand jury indictment
for capital or “infamous” crimes
- In other states, elected prosecutors determine whether to charge a defendant and what
crimes to charge
- Defendants charged with a felony by a prosecutor have the right to a preliminary
hearing
Right to a Fair (Not Perfect) Trial:
- Under the Due Process clauses of the 5th and 14th Amendments, the law does “not
require a defendant to receive a perfect trial, only a fair one”
- If a defendant is convicted in a trial where a harmless error occurred, the
defendant isn’t entitled to a new trial
- If an error during the trial is deemed harmful, reversible, or plain, the defendant is
entitled to a new trial or to have the charges dropped
Right to Assistance of Counsel:
- If charged with a crime, a person has the 6th Amendment right to counsel
- If the defendant cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided by the state or
federal government
- The right to effective counsel applies at all stages of a criminal prosecution
Strickland v. Washington (1984):
A convicted defendant claiming inadequate or ineffective defense must prove:
- The defense fell below an objective standard of reasonableness
- A reasonable probability exists that the results would’ve been different but for the
lawyer’s errors
Right to be Informed of Charged:
- The 6th Amendment provides that “the accused shall enjoy the right… to be informed of
the nature and cause of the accusation”
- Can be an issue when a defendant later seeks to retract a guilty plea because it
wasn’t “voluntary and intelligent”
Bousley v. United States (1998):
- A defendant’s guilty plea must be “voluntarily and intelligently” made in order to be
constitutionally valid
- If circumstances show that the defendant was misinformed by either the court or the
prosecutor, the guilty plea is invalid
