As one of the fifty states of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

follows

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

. The principal source of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

for California criminal procedure is the

California Penal Code The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of most criminal law, criminal procedure, penal institutions, and the execution of sentences, among other things, in the American state of California. It was originally enacted ...

, Part 2, "Of Criminal Procedure." With a population of about 40 million people, in California every year there are approximately: *166 thousand

violent crimes A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objecti ...

and one million

property crimes Property crime is a category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime is a crime to obtain money, property, o ...

committed *1.5 million arrests made *270,000

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

cases, 900,000

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

cases, and 5 million

infraction A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offen ...

cases heard by the

California superior courts Superior courts in California are the state trial courts with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a governmental agency. As mandated by t ...

There are currently 130,000 people in state prisons and 70,000 people in county jails. Of these, there are 746 people who have been sentenced to death.These are the 746 inmates awaiting execution on California's death row
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', Paige St. John & Maloy Moore, August 24, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.

Arrest

The first step in criminal procedure is for the

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

to be arrested by the police. In California, the police may arrest a person: * for a

crime ''if'' the police have

probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition or f ...

and personally witnessed the crime occur in front of them or the police have a signed

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...

from a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

* for a

crime ''if'' the police have

that the person committed a felony, a statement from someone who witnessed the felony, or the police have a signed

from a

If the police are claiming that they have an arrest warrant, the defendant can demand to be shown it. If the police do not have the warrant with them at the time, they can still make the arrest, but they must show the warrant to the defendant "as soon as practicable."

Citation instead of Arrest

Alternatively, instead of arrest the police may choose to issue a citation (i.e. "notice to appear in court") if the police believe the risk of the defendant not showing up to court for arraignment (see next section below) is low. The effect is the same as arrest, but the defendant does not have to be handcuffed and taken to jail and instead remains free as long as they go to their arraignment. If the defendant fails to appear in court for their scheduled arraignment, the judge will most likely issue an arrest warrant and the police will then go into the community, find the defendant, and take them into custody.

Search

After being arrested, the defendant may be searched by the police. If the police would like to search a person or their property before making an arrest, they must have probable cause to do so or a signed

search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countries, ...

from a judge. A search warrant is different from an arrest warrant.

Interrogation

If the police want to

interrogate Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

the defendant, they must first read the

Miranda warning In the United States, the ''Miranda'' warning is a type of notification customarily given by police to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) advising them of their right to silence and, in effect, protection fr ...

to the defendant, advising them of their rights. The defendant does not have to answer any questions of the police.

Pre-Trial Custody

Upon arrest, the police will take the defendant to the local (city or county) pre-trial

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. This differs from state

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. Prison is for defendants that have been convicted of a crime after a trial and are now serving their sentence. After taking the defendant to jail, the police may decide to release the defendant with a notice-to-appear in court for their arraignment. The police cannot release the defendant on bail before the arraignment because the judge is required to set the bail amount.

Arraignment

After arresting the defendant, the police are required by law to bring the defendant to court within 48 hours (excluding court holidays) for the

arraignment Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisd ...

hearing Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psycholog ...

. The arraignment is a very short court hearing. At the arraignment, the judge will: # Read what charges the

District attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

has filed in court against the defendant (e.g. "You have been charged with violation of Section 243 of the Penal Code, Battery.") If the DA decides not to file charges against the defendant, then the defendant is set free. The judge may ask the defendant if they waive their right to hear the charges. If the defendant agrees to waive their right to hear the charges, the judge won't read what the defendant has been charged with. # Set the amount of money required for

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

. By paying the bail bond, the defendant is released from jail, and the court will eventually provide the bail money back to the defendant as long as they continue coming to court. Bail is required to ensure the defendant will come back to court if they are released. When there is either a public safety risk (e.g. accusations of violent crime) or a risk that the defendant won't show up to court (e.g. the defendant has a history of not showing up to court), the judge will deny bail and require the defendant to stay in custody. Bail is initially set according to the bail schedule but can be adjusted depending on individual circumstances, such as income. It is also possible that the judge will allow the defendant to leave jail without any bail (i.e. "released on recognizance") if the judge has strong confidence the defendant will show up to court and has no threat to the local community. The judge will also consider if the defendant has any local ties to the community. For this reason, it may be helpful if the defendant's family and/or friends attend the arraignment so the judge may take their presence into consideration. # Inform the defendant of their rights, including their right to a

Criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

. If the defendant cannot afford to hire a defense attorney, the judge will refer the defendant to the

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

. The public defenders are criminal defense lawyers who are paid by the state of California. # Ask if the defendant would like to plead guilty, not guilty, or

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

. The defendant can ask to enter a plea later so that they don't have to decide right away. The district attorney will frequently offer a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

Preliminary examination

If the defendant was charged with a felony, they have a right to a preliminary examination. If the defendant was charged only with a misdemeanor, they have no right to a preliminary examination but may make a

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

(i.e. a request) for one. At the preliminary examination, the defendant and the

criminal defense attorney A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various jur ...

can challenge the legality of the arrest. For example, they can claim the police did not have probable cause to arrest the defendant. If successful, the defendant is set free.

Pre-trial

Setting the Date for Trial

Defendants in California have the following statutory

Speedy Trial In criminal law, the right to a speedy trial is a human right under which it is asserted that a government prosecutor may not delay the trial of a criminal suspect arbitrarily and indefinitely. Otherwise, the power to impose such delays would eff ...

rights. * To have their trial begin within 60 days of their arraignment if charged with a felony * To have their trial begin within 30 days of their arraignment if charged with a misdemeanor and they are in custody of the police (i.e. in jail) * To have their trial begin with 45 days of their arraignment if charged with a misdemeanor and they are out of custody of the police (i.e. out of jail) These rights exists for several reasons. Most importantly, they exist to ensure defendants do not stay in jail for months and years waiting for a trial. Defendants are frequently asked if they would like to waive their speedy trial rights. To waive a right means to give it up. One reason why the defendant may want to waive their speedy trial rights is so that they can have time perform their own investigation by an independent third-party which may produce different results from the investigation done by the police. The results of the third-party investigation can then be presented at trial to the jury.

Discovery

Discovery is the process of exchanging documents between the District Attorney and the Defense Attorney that may contain evidence. In California, the District Attorney is required to turn over everything they plan to present at trial at least 30 days ahead of time, as well as any evidence that might help the Defendant show that they are innocent (see

Brady disclosure ''Brady'' disclosure consists of exculpatory or impeaching information and evidence that is material to the guilt or innocence or to the punishment of a defendant. The term comes from the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case ''Brady v. Maryland'', in wh ...

). The Defense Attorney is not required to give incriminating evidence to the District Attorney, but must also turn over whatever they plan to present at trial at least 30 days ahead of time.

New Public Defender

If the Defendant is having a problem with the Public Defender and would like a new one, they can tell the court they are making a "Marsden motion." The court will then have a special hearing, called a Marsden hearing, where the District Attorney is not allowed to be in the room. There, the Defendant can explain how the Public Defender is not being helpful and the judge can decide if the Defendant should be given a new attorney.

Self-Representation

A defendant may choose to act as their own attorney by making a Faretta motion. This should be done as early as possible because making such a motion close to the trial date gives cause for the judge to deny the motion.

Trial

Jury Selection

Jury selection is a lengthy process in which the District Attorney and the Defense Attorney take turns asking questions to potential jurors. Both sides can disqualify jurors that they think won't help them. The process ends when both sides find 12 jurors plus one standby juror that they both accept, or both sides run out of juror challenges. Each side can disqualify 10 potential jurors each without giving a reason to the judge. After 10 challenges, they have to show good cause (i.e. give a reason) to continue disqualifying potential jurors.

Opening Statements

Since the Defendant is assumed innocent until proven guilty, the District Attorney has the burden of proving their case, so they make the first opening statement that summarizes the evidence they will present at trial. They summarize their point of view of what happened and why they believe the jury should find the defendant to be guilty of the crimes charged. The Defense Attorney can then make their opening statement, or choose to reserve their opening statement until the District Attorney rests their case.

Prosecution's Case

The prosecution calls all the witnesses one by one. Witnesses are not allowed to sit in the courtroom, and must wait outside until they are called to testify on the stand. Each time the District Attorney calls a witness for

Direct examination The direct examination or examination-in-chief is one stage in the process of adducing evidence from witnesses in a court of law. Direct examination is the questioning of a witness by the lawyer/side/party that called such witness in a trial. ...

, the Defense Attorney is allowed to ask questions as well of the same witness as part of

Cross-examination In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and m ...

. After the District Attorney has called all their witnesses and presented all of their evidence, the District Attorney announces they rest their case. This means they are finished explaining why they think the defendant is guilty. The prosecution must prove their case

beyond reasonable doubt Beyond a reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the balance of probabilities standard commonly used in civil cases, becau ...

. This means the evidence must be so convincing that there is no doubt left in the minds of the jury that the defendant is guilty and that the only way for them to doubt the evidence is to make "unreasonable" assumptions. (i.e. maybe aliens from Mars put the murder weapon in the defendant's car.) It is the highest standard of proof used in American law.

Defense's Case

The Defense Attorney then calls all of their witnesses. The Defense Attorney can call new witnesses as well as witnesses that the District Attorney called. After the Defense Attorney asks questions to the witness as part of

, the District Attorney can also ask them questions as part of

. The Defense Attorney's strategy will be either to undermine the District Attorney's claims (i.e. say that the DA has failed to prove their case by poking holes in their theory and undermining the credibility of the witnesses and evidence) or to present an "affirmative defense" (i.e. actively prove the Defendant is innocent by introducing their own evidence, such as a video showing the Defendant was out of town when the crime happened.) The Defense Attorney could also do both.

Defendant's Testimony

The defendant has the absolute right to take the stand as a witness to testify (in self-defense) or not testify (avoid

self-incrimination In criminal law, self-incrimination is the act of exposing oneself generally, by making a statement, "to an accusation or charge of crime; to involve oneself or another ersonin a criminal prosecution or the danger thereof". (Self-incrimination ...

) at trial. The defendant's decision on this issue is of such importance that it cannot be overridden by a competing interest. (i.e. No matter what arguments are made by the DA or even the defense attorney, the defendant's choice to testify or not testify must be honored.)

Closing Statements

Each side then summarizes what happened during the trial and their final thoughts as to why the jury should vote guilty or not guilty.

Jury Deliberation

The jury is sent into a private room where they deliberate. All 12 jurors must vote guilty in order to convict the defendant.

Verdict

After the jury reaches a verdict, they return to the courtroom and the court clerk announces the verdict.

Sentencing

If the verdict is guilty, the judge gives the sentence for the crime. Criminal sentences can include any of the following, depending on the particular crime: *

Fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

Restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court o ...

Restraining Order A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protection or ...

Imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Probation

After deciding on a sentence, the court may also put the defendant on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

, especially if it is the defendant's first criminal conviction, the crime itself was not very serious, and the defendant's behavior indicates they have learned from the experience. When granted probation, the imposition of the sentence on the defendant is suspended and the defendant does not have to pay the fine or become imprisoned as long as they comply with the terms of their probation as set by the judge. Probation terms may include obligations to perform

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

. If the terms of the probation are violated, the court can then impose the original sentence.

Appeal

In California, criminal defendants have the right to appeal both felony and misdemeanor convictions. If the defendant is convicted of a misdemeanor, they have the right to be released on bail pending the outcome of their appeal. Misdemeanor appeals are heard by the Appellate Division of the

California Superior Court Superior courts in California are the state trial courts with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a governmental agency. As mandated by t ...

. Felony appeals are heard by the

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

. Appeals from judgements of death are heard by the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

References

{{REFLIST

External links

California Rules of Court for Criminal Proceedings

Law enforcement in California Crime in California