LAW 5402: Criminal Procedure II - 2211

This course will provide a detailed, practical, and realistic understanding of what occurs in a criminal case from the time an accused is arrested until the time of conviction, sentence, and appeal. Procedures in both federal and state courts will be discussed including preliminary issues such as arrest procedure, prosecutorial discretion in determining what charges will be filed, bail concerns, preliminary hearings, and grand jury proceedings. The course will then address pre-trial matters such as discovery, Brady material, and pre-trial motions practice.  This section will include but not be limited to joinder and severance, speedy trial, plea bargaining, and pre-trial habeas corpus. The "trial" section of the course will discuss jury issues including jury selection and a variety of procedural issues that arise at trial including confrontation clause, hearsay, double jeopardy, and Bruton issues.  Recent Supreme Court cases, such as Apprendi and Alleyne, will generate an important discussion of not only appropriate language in indictments, but verdicts and verdict slips as well. Time will also be spent on sentencing, both state and federal, as every prosecutor and defense attorney deals with sentencing in the vast majority of their cases.