The Sixth, Seventh and Fourteenth Amendments

The Sixth Amendment

• The right to a speedy and public trial• The right to an impartial jury – where the

crime has been committed• The right to be informed of the nature and

causes of the accusation• Right to be confronted with the witnesses

against him/her• Right for the assistance of counsel

Speedy Trials

• Barker v. Wingo (1972)

• No specific timetables for trials BUT some things to consider:– Length of delay?

– Prosecutions reasons for delay?

– Did the defendant say he wanted a speedy trial?

– Was there harm in delaying the trial?

Public Trials

• In re Oliver (1948)• Public trial is a

safeguard against any attempts to employ our courts as instruments of persecution.

Can trials be TOO public?

• Can a defendant be “convicted by the media” before they go to court?

• Sheppard v. Maxwell – Supreme Court ruled that too much pretrial publicity prevented Dr. Sam Sheppard from getting a fair trial

What can be done if there is too much info about the case in the

media?

• Change of Venue (location) for the trial

• Sequestering the jury– Keeping the jury from

hearing the news. Only know what is said in court.

Whose right is it to have a public trial? The PUBLIC or the

DEFENDANT?

• The Defendant! • The public and or

media doesn’t have the right to attend ALL trials.– Gannett Co. v. De

Pasquale (1979)

Exceptions to the Right to a Public Trial

• Rape, child molestation – names of victims are kept secret.– Courts can be emptied.

• Cases of National Security

Impartial and Local Jury

• Tradition of 12 members– Some communities

have only six

• Unanimous verdict in CRIMINAL trials.

Impartial Jury

• Parker v. Gladden (1966): No juror should be prejudiced against the defendant

• Judge, defense lawyer and prosecution conduct a Voir Dire to find out if a potential juror is unprejudiced.

Impartial Jury

• Defense has right of Peremptory Challenge.– Doesn’t even have to

say why a juror isn’t acceptable.

• Prosecution and the judge can also exclude potential jurors they see as prejudiced.

A Fair Cross-Section of the Community for Juries

• No systematic exclusion of identifiable groups.– Keeping women or African

Americans from serving.

– You can’t necessarily exclude a juror in a capital case just because they are against the death penalty.

Cases to Remember

• Batson v. Kentucky (1986) – prosecution wouldn’t accept 4 black members to the jury because the defendant was black.

Local Juries

• Juries must be from the state where the crime happened.– Right of the public to

judge

– The right of the defendant not to be shipped to someplace that will be hostile toward them.

Knowing the Charges

• Unless you know the charges – how can you defend yourself?

• Initial Appearance – Defendant told the

charges

– Have to be specific

– Chance to plead

Knowing the Charges

• Due Process Clause of 14th Amendment says Initial appearance or a GRAND JURY indictment must be given to the defendant before going to trial.– No skipping this step!

Grand Juries v. Juries

• 23 members of Grand Juries / 12 in juries

• Grand Juries decide if there is enough evidence for charges.– Some states mandatory– Nebraska uses when

prosecution might be prejudiced.

• Juries decide guilt or innocence.

Right to Confront

• Right to Cross-examine witnesses– No hearsay testimony.

• Joe told me that Jack said ….

• EXCEPTIONS:– Last words

• Right to ask questions challenging testimony.

Right to Confront: Face to face?

• Problem in child abuse or spouse abuse situations.

• Coy v. Iowa (1988) stopped putting defendants behind screens.– Witnesses might change

minds when they saw the defendant

– Less likely to lie if the defendant is “in their face”

Right to Confront: Face to face

• 1990 Supreme Court changed their mind.

• Courts can be closed to the general public– Meet in judge’s

chambers

• Close-circuit tv can be used in testimony of children

Right to Confront: Face to Face

• Preference for defendant being in the court with the witnesses.

Compulsory Process: SUBPEONAS

• The defese has the right to force witnesses to appear in court on their behalf.

• Or evidence to be turned over

• Even Presidents have to follow!

The Right to Counsel: The most important of the 6th Amendment

• Powell v. Alabama (1932)

• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

The Right to Counsel: Powell v. Alabama “Scottsboro Boys”

• 9 young black men were accused by 2 white women of raping them.

• No attorneys showed up to defend the boys.

• All their trials were in one day.

• All were found guilty and sentenced to death.

• Supreme Court overturned the case – eventually.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

• Gideon was an ex-con drifter in Panama City, Florida in 1961

• Convicted of stealing beer and $65 from vending machines.

• Don’t I have a right to a lawyer?

YES!

• Lawyers for those unable to pay for it themselves MUST be provided at state expense in ALL cases where loss of freedom might happen.– Later included

misdemeanors.

Lawyers Before a Trial

• Escobedo v. Illinois– Mr. Escobedo kept asking if

he could have a lawyer while being questioned by police.

– Police denied him one and later used testimony gained to convict him of murder.

– SUPREME COURT SAID NO! Lawyers must be obtained if a defendant being in custodial interrogation asks for one.

The Seventh Amendment

• Trial by Jury is a right

• A judge cannot overrule a jury unless there are particular laws that allow that.– Juries to rule on “just the facts”

The Fourteenth Amendment

• No state can “make less” of the Constitution!

• States must offer the same rights that the federal courts do.