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Courtroom dictionary

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A courtroom dictionary

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Page 1: Courtroom dictionary
Page 2: Courtroom dictionary

Index

1. Courtroom words. 2. Courtroom expressions. 3. Stages of a criminal case. 4. Character Analysis. 5. Plot Analysis.

Page 3: Courtroom dictionary

Courtroom words 1. Appeal:  A  request  for  a  higher  court  to  review  a  decision  made  by  

a  lower  court.  2. Arraignment:  When   the   accused   is   brought   before   the   court   to  

hear  the  charges  against  him  or  her.  They  plead  guilty  or  not  guilty  at  this  time.  

3. Acquittal:   A   legal   determination   that   a   person   who   has   been  charged  with  a  crime  is  innocent.  

4. Adjudicate:  To  decide  judicially  in  court.  5. Bail:   Security   (usually  money)   to   insure   that   the   accused  person  

appear  at  trial.  6. Conviction:   The   result   of   a   criminal   trial   in   which   a   person   is  

found  guilty.  7. Cross-examination:   The  questioning  of   a  witness  by   the   lawyer  

for  the  opposing  side.  8. Direct-examination:  The  first  questioning  in  a  trial  of  a  witness  by  

the  lawyer  who  called  that  witness.  9. Objection:  The  opposing  side   finds   fault  with  the  question  being  

asked  the  witness.    10. Overruled:   The   judge,   following   an   objection,   decides   the  

questions  may  continue.    11. Parole:   Conditional   release   from   prison   before   the   end   of   a  

sentence.    12. Perjury:  A  deliberate  lie  said  under  oath.  13. Judgment:  The  decision  of  a  court  of  law.  14. Mistrial:   A   trial   that   becomes   invalid,   is   essentially   canceled,  

because  of  a  mistake  in  procedure.  15. Motion:  How  a  lawyer  asks  the  judge  to  make  a  decision.  16. Oath:   A   declaration   of   a   statement's   truth,   which   renders   one  

willfully,  asserting  an  untrue  statement  punishable  for  perjury.  17. Plead:  To  answer  an  allegation.  18. Proceeding:   Any   hearing   or   court   appearance   related   to   the  

adjudication  of  a  case.  19. Remand:  To  send  a  case  back  to  the  court  from  which  it  came  for  

further  proceedings.  20. Reverse:   To   set   aside   a   judgment   on   appeal   or   proceedings   in  

error.  21. Sustained:  The  judge,  following  an  objection,  agrees  that  the  line  

of  questioning  should  not  continue.  22. Verdict:  the  jury  hands  down  a  verdict  of  guilty  or  not  guilty.  

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Courtroom expressions 1.                                        As  jurors  you  are  not  to  be  swayed  by  sympathy.  2.     Bail  should  be  continued.  3.     Call  your  next  witness.  4.     Can  you  tell  the  jury  …  ?  5.     Could  you  briefly  describe  …  ?  6.     Could   you   describe   the   appearance   of   (a   package,  etc.)?  

7.     Counsel,  lay  a  foundation.  8.     Defendant  will  be  remanded.  9.     Don’t  belabor  the  point  counselor.  10.     Don’t  discuss  the  case.  11.     Don’t   volunteer   explanations   of   your  answers.  

12.     I   direct   the   jury   to   disregard   the   statement  that  …  

13.     Jurors  may  be  excused.  14.     Keep  your  voice  up.  15.     Keep  your  own  counsel,  don’t   talk  about  the  case.  

16.     May  I  have  it?  17.     Members   of   the   jury,   you   are   instructed   to  disregard  …  

18.     Mr.  X  will  reduce  the  decibel  level.  19.     Please  proceed.  20.     Please  raise  your  right  hand.  21.     Please  remain  standing.  22.     Please  resume  your  seat.  23.     Remember,  you  are  under  oath.  24.     Rephrase  the  question.  25.     Speak  into  the  microphone.  26.     State  your  full  name  for  the  record.  27.     The   following   prospective   jurors   are  excused.  

28.     The  witness  will  resume  the  stand.  29.     Use  your  common  sense.  30.     Will  the  defendant  please  rise.  31.     Will  the  prospective  jurors  please  stand.  32.     Will   the  people   in   the  well  of   the  courtroom  please  stand.  

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33.     Would  you  raise  your  right  hand?  34.     Would  you  indicate  …  ?  35.     Would  you  describe  …  ?  36.     Would  you  point  (someone)  out?  37.     Would  you  look  at  …  ?  38.     Would  you  state  for  the  record  …  ?  39.     Would  you  label  that  as  (car,  building,  etc.)?  40.     Would  you  mark  that  with  an  “x”?  41.     You  are  excused.  42.     You  can  proceed,  Mr.  (X).  43.     You  can  resume  your  seat.  44.     You  can  answer  the  question.  45.     You   have   exhausted   that   subject,   please  move  on.  

46.     You  may  answer  the  question.  47.     You  may  be  seated.  48.     You  may  cross-­‐examine,  counsel.  49.     You  may  inquire,  Mr.  X.  50.     You  may  proceed.  

You  may  step  down.                                            

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Stages of Criminal trial  The  process  of  a  criminal  trial  starts  when  the  individual  is  arrested,  or  charges  are   in   order.   There   is   an   initial   arrest   of   2   to   48   hours.   Then   the   defendant   is  informed   about   the   case   and   the   charges   the   accused   has   to   pay.   If   it   is   not   a  murder   a   bail   will   be   set.   If   the   charge   is   for   murder,   bail   may   be   set   or   the  accused  will  be  notified  of  when  and  where  to  appear  next  to  be  remanded  into  custody.    The  next  step  is  the  preliminary  hearing,  which  usually  happens  7  days  after  the  informal  arraignment.  The  district  judge  determines  if  the  case  merits  going  any  farther.  The  prosecution  calls  witnesses  and  shows  evidence;  usually  de  defense  does  not  do  that.    If  the  case  is  remanded  to  federal  court,  there  is  no  preliminary  hearing,  instead  the   defendant   goes   before   a   grand   jury,   which   is   made   up   of   23   citizens,   and  these  meetings  are  private.    The   next   30   days   the   formal   arraignment   takes   place;   usually   the   defendants  plead  not  guilty  or  stand  mute.    After  30  more  days  the  pre-­‐trial  conference  is  held.    The  next  step  is  a  jury,  where  the  judge  will  give  opening  instructions  to  the  jury,  and  then  the  opening  statements  are  heard.  Then  the  case-­‐in-­‐chief  follows,  these  is  where   the  prosecution   shows  evidence.   Lawyers  will   argue  on   the   evidence.  Usually   the  defense  will  ask   for  a  motion  of  demurrer,  which  means   to  dismiss  the  case  for  lack  of  evidence,  if  the  judge  accepts  the  defendant  will  be  called  not  guilty,   but   if   the   judge   does   not   accept,   the   lawyers   have   the   roll   to   directly  examining  the  defendant.    Defense  and  prosecution  give  their  own  statements,   then  the   judge  orders  how  to  proceed,  the  verdict  is  known  once  a  12  to  1  decision  is  reached.  If  the  verdict  is   not   guilty,   the   defendant   is   free   to   leave,   but   if   he   is   guilty   the   judge   will  sentence  him  to  serve  time,  the  defendant  will  be  remanded  into  custody.    http://www.thelawshack.com/ImInnocent/Criminal_Procedure.html  

           

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Character analysis

Jury #12

Occupation: Advertising Executive

He looks young, maybe about 25 or 30 years, he wears a black suite and a

thin tie, and he wears round shaped glasses.

He is a serious man and not very expressive, a man of few words, he only

says what he thinks it’s necessary.

He is not rude with any of the other jurors, it seems like he doesn’t involve

personal thoughts.

He is a quiet man and talks with respect; he is a little unstable with his

decisions.

He is nice and friendly with other jurors, but he is not fully concentrated on the

case, other things, such as games, looking through the window, or having

dinner, distract him.

He talks about what he does for a living with other jurors, and it seems like he

is a man with a good job. Sometimes he uses advertisement talk.

He doesn’t think things through, he give the first answer that comes to his

mind. He is impatient and wants the trial to be over so he can be back to his

normal life.

Other jurors sometimes yell at him because he doesn’t give enough

arguments, but in general no one messes with him because he doesn’t mess

with anyone, he listens to all of them without interrupting and he is heard too.

His role in this case is to help to find evidences and facts that can determine

weather the accused is guilty or not guilty. At first he does not play his role

well because he votes guilty, he didn’t look for more details that would help

him to be sure that he was guilty. Then he started to listen to juror #8 and

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realizes that there has to be more proves on this case other than witnesses.

He starts to take smarter decisions.

At first he voted as “guilty”, he didn’t give his reasons. Then he changed his

vote to “not guilty” after juror #8 explains why the old man could not have

heard the voice of the kid saying “I’m going to kill you”, because the train was

passing by and the noise is really hard. After listening to jurors #3 and #4 talk

about how clear the woman’s testimony was, he changes his vote to “not

guilty”, again. At the end, the old man says that he noticed that the witness

wore glasses, and that no one goes to sleep with their glasses on, so

everyone has a reasonable doubt on the woman’s testimony, because now

the woman’s sight is on question, and juror #12 change his vote to “not guilty,

again.

If he have had voted differently, or someone else did, the case would have

gone on for hours, if there was none unanimous resolution, they would have

gone crazy and start fighting with each other.

If I were juror # 12 I would have voted as “not guilty” at first, because I think

that there is always a reasonable doubt, I would have discuss it and found out

more information, then I would have decided if the kid was “guilty” or “not

guilty”.

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Plot Analysis

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Similarities Differences There are twelve jurors in both. In the movie that name of juror #8 is

Davis, and in the book, the name does not appear.

In both, the book and the movie, there is a woman’s testimony.

In the book the boy is 16 years old and in the movie, the boy is 18 years.

In the book and in the movie, juror #3 is the last one to vote “not guilty”.

In the movie you can see the juror’s physical appearance, and the way they dress, while in the book there are few descriptions, such as, old, young, etc.

The room they are in is very hot, both specify that.

In the movie, juror #3 tears the picture of his son at the end, while in the book the conflict with his son is has not much importance.

The ones that participate most in the dialogue are jurors #3 and #8.

In the movie, at the end, the name of juror #9 is said, and in the book it does not appear.

In both of them, the only one that voted “not guilty” at first was juror #8.

In the movie, we can see the defendant, even if he is not described, we can get an idea of how he is.

In both of them at the beginning, all of the jurors try to convince juror #8 to vote “guilty”.

When I read the book I imagined the jurors younger than they appeared in the movie.

In both, all jurors deliberate in a close, isolated room.

At the end of the movie, juror #3 didn’t seem so bad at all, but the book does not specify his motives.

In both, at the end, all jurors vote “not guilty”.

In the movie, the settings are clearer.

In both, juror #3 is very rude and aggressive with other jurors.

The psychological ambience of the movie is even more intense than the one at the book, maybe because of their facial expressions of tone of voice.

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Page 12: Courtroom dictionary

Mock Trial

2011

10th B