Exam 10: Ethical Misconduct in the Courts and Responses

You are a defense attorney defending a client against a murder charge. Your client is the former boyfriend of the victim, and it has been established by several witnesses that the breakup was not a pleasant one. Your client was identified as a suspect from the very beginning. During the trial, the prosecution presented a witness who claimed to overhear your client praying for forgiveness in his holding cell. The prosecution also presented the murder weapon, which was a softball bat with your client's fingerprint on the handle. Your client was convicted. You attempted to convince the jury that the presence of the fingerprints did not mean anything - it was his bat, after all, and he had used it in a softball game recently. You argued that the detectives investigating the murder suspected your client right away because he was the victim's ex-boyfriend, and accordingly, they automatically interpreted any evidence in a way that agreed with their suspicion. This is an example of:

The _____________________  believes that an individual has no rights unless they are specified in the Constitution or are present in some other legal source.

Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project asserts that many of the Brady violations occurring in prosecutors' offices are due to :

Discuss the number of innocents who may be imprisoned and explain the most common reasons for wrongful convictions.

One of the most cited reasons for false convictions is ineffective counsel.

Which of the following is not considered prosecutorial misconduct?

Some locales have either eliminated or dramatically constrained the use of ___________________________ because of the high probability that they are lying in order to gain some benefit .

Discuss the arguments in favor of and opposed to allowing television cameras into the courtroom during a criminal trial.

In _________________ , the Supreme Court ruled against a prosecutor who objected to misconduct occurring in the office where he worked.

Explain the differences between judicial activism and constructionism and show how these viewpoints can affect the decisions of the courts.

You are a prosecutor and are preparing for an upcoming trial. This is a case of arson, and the defendant is accused of setting fire to a barn, causing it to burn to the ground. Initially, you charged the defendant with attempted murder, since there was reason to believe the barn might have been occupied at the time. In reality, you knew that you would not be able to prove this charge in court. You thought that adding this serious charge might lead the defendant to plead guilty to the arson charge if you agreed to drop the attempted murder charge. This arrangement would be a:

A Brady motion requests all evidence that is "likely to lead to a different outcome."

If accused of dismissing a potential juror because of race, what must a prosecutor do in order for the dismissal to be allowed?

You are a judge seeking re-election to the county court. The Senate candidate from the party you represent has asked you to make a speech at his campaign event, since you share his ideas. You wish to show your support and also make your positions known. Which of the following is true?

Even when there is evidence indicating innocence, juries have shown a willingness to convict based on false ____________________.

Which of the following is not a criticism of how the Bar handles complaints of ethical violations?

According to the text, disciplinary committees investigate a practicing attorney:

The procedure for presenting a single suspect to an eyewitness for identification is known as a :

The Innocence Project is :

In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld , the U.S. Supreme Court held that detainees in Guantanamo: