Lesson 3

Read the following text

• Criminal procedure
• Before any legal procedure, there needs to be the suggestion that a crime has happened. This could be a
small crime (like shoplifting) or something much more serious (like murder). Whatever type of crime it is,
there’s always a perpetrator and usually a victim. Often there is also a witness who has seen or heard
the crime. If the police catch the perpetrator, they can’t simply send him/her to jail. In most countries,
everybody has the right to a fair trial.
• A trial is an event which takes place in a court. The possible perpetrator is now called the defendant and
is represented by a lawyer. A judge looks at the evidence and decides if it is sufficient to incriminate the
defendant. If so, the judge decides that the defendant is guilty and decides the correct punishment.
• Some trials are very long and complicated, and sometimes the judge decides to adjourn the trial for a
day or a week so that everybody can have some time to prepare their ideas. A trial needs to be very
well-organised and follow the law. If there is any error, the trial becomes known as a mistrial and the
whole procedure needs to start again with a different judge.
Use words from the text to do the following
crossword
•Across

• 3. (noun) another name for ‘prison’

• 6. (noun) the person who sees or hears a crime • Down

• 1. (noun) a trial which is not valid because it had
• but is not directly affected some mistakes
• 7. (noun) a professional who officially decides • 2. (verb) to stop a trial for a certain period of time
if a • 4. (noun) a professional who represents people with
relation
• person is guilty or innocent
• to the law
• 8. (noun) the building/room where a trial takes
• 5. (noun) the person who suffers a crime
place
• 9. (noun) a formal event with the objective of
• 11. (verb) when some evidence shows that a deciding if a
person • person is guilty or innocent
• is connected to a crime • 10. (noun) the person who has been accused of a
crime
• 12. (verb) the crime of stealing items from a
shop
Read the text then do the task that
follows.
• Crimes can be classified according to the severity of punishment. The most serious crimes with the entire range of
sentencing options available are felonies. Misdemeanors are less serious than felonies and have less severe sentencing
options. Infractions, also called violations, are the least serious type of crimes and generally do not involve
incarceration.
• The purposes of punishing a criminal defendant are both specific and general as follows:
• 1. deterrence (deterrence prevents future crime by frightening the defendant)
• 2. incapacitation (incapacitation prevents future crime by removing the defendant from society)
• 3. rehabilitation (rehabilitation prevents future crime by altering a defendant’s behavior)
• 4. retribution (retribution prevents crime by giving victims or society a “justice has been served” feeling of avengement)
and
• 5. restitution (restitution prevents future crime by punishing the defendant financially).
• Law comes from three sources: the Constitution, a statute, or a case. The Constitution is the highest source of law.
Statutory law applies to individuals but is inferior to constitutional law. Case law is law made by judges when they rule
on the facts of a case.
Read the following case study then discuss the following
questions
•Case Study (Smuggling of migrants from Morocco to Spain)

• On 22 May 2016, the defendant endeavored to cross from Morocco to Spain through the border point of Beni-Ensar (Morocco). He was driving a vehicle with a
fraudulent license plate. The vehicle had two hidden compartments: one behind the rear seat and one in the front of the vehicle, just under the dashboard, between
the glove compartment and the engine. Following a search operation, law-enforcement agents discovered two migrants in the hidden compartment at the front of
the car and one migrant hiding in the rear cubicle. The three migrants were not in possession of the necessary documentation to legally enter and stay in Spain.

• The sentence was based on the defendant's guilty plea, in which he agreed to have committed the crimes of migrant smuggling and falsification of documents. The
defendant also admitted that his conduct included aggravating circumstances, notably the endangerment of the life and safety of migrants. In respect of the
aggravating circumstance of endangering the life and safety of migrants, and following prior jurisprudence (e.g. STS 887/2005, STS 1025/2012), the following
elements were used as indicators that paragraph 3 of Article 318 bis of the Criminal Code could be triggered: (i) reduced dimensions of the hidden compartments
where the migrants were transported, (ii) lack of ventilation, (iii) inhalation of contaminated air due to closeness to the engine, (iv) impossibility of moving.

• Additionally, the prosecutor emphasized that the defendant was a recidivist for the same type of crime. He had finished serving his previous sentence (four-year
imprisonment) shortly before committing the offense he was tried for. With a prior criminal record for migrant smuggling, the defendant was remanded in custody
on 23 April 2015 for crimes related to the case under analysis until he was convicted to 6-year imprisonment for migrant smuggling and additionally given a fine for
falsification of documents.

• Case-related file

• UNODC SHERLOC Case Law Database. UNODC No.: ESPh35

• Discussion question

• What purposes of punishment/sentencing were used by the judge in this case?

• What were the aggravating factors?

• How and why were incarceration and financial sanctions combined in this case?
Work in pairs. Have a look at the following table in which you are given 5 types of
punishments. Then read the description of the 7 crimes below and decide
together on the appropriate punishment for each crime. Prepare to give
arguments.

Caution Fine Community Imprisonment Life sentence

service
The police take The police tell The judge tells The judge The judge
your you you decides decides
name and give that you need to that you need to that you need to that you need to
you pay do some work as go to prison for a go to prison for
a warning that if a certain amount a penalty for specific period of the
they catch you of your time. rest of your life
breaking the law money as a crime (e.g. clean (but
again, they penalty the streets, work this decision can
will give you a for a crime. as a volunteer, be reconsidered
punishment. etc). after
15 years).
• Theft – Steve is 17 years old. Yesterday, he was caught stealing a bicycle that was parked on the
street. This is the second time this year that he has been caught stealing.
• Bribery – Frank is 50 years old. He is a politician. Last year, he selected a big construction company
to build a new hospital in his city. The police then discovered that he had accepted £12,000 as a
‘donation’ from the same company.
• Drug-dealing – Gary is 25 years old. The police suspected that he was a dealer. Last week they got
an official warrant to allow them to enter Gary’s flat. They found five kilos of cocaine. They also
found messages on his mobile which suggested that he was going to sell the cocaine.
• Vandalism – Holly is 18 years old. Last week the police caught her spraying graffiti on a wall in the
underground station. She doesn’t have a criminal record.
• Murder – Kate is 35 years old. The police suspect that she killed an old man in order to steal his
money. They found a knife with her fingerprints at the crime scene, so they want to use this as
evidence to prove that she is guilty.
• Tax evasion – Hank is 55 years old. He earns a good salary. The Tax Office recently did an audit of
his finances and discovered that he didn’t declare about £5,000 in taxes last year. Hank says that it
was a simple accident.
• Kidnapping – Greg is 45 years old. The police know that he is a member of the mafia. Last month he
kidnapped a businessman and asked the family to pay a ransom of £200,000.
 • The US Constitution provides several important protections for criminal
defendants, including a prohibition on the use of evidence that has been obtained
by unconstitutional means. This would include evidence seized in violation of the

Reading: •
Fourth Amendment and confessions obtained in violation of the Fifth Amendment.

Search and Seizure The rights of those accused of a crime are spelled out in four of
the ten constitutional amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. The Fourth

Constitution Amendment says in part that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not
be violated.” Although there are numerous and tricky exceptions to the general

al rights
rule, ordinarily the police may not break into a person’s house or confiscate his
papers or arrest him unless they have a warrant to do so.

• Double Jeopardy. The Fifth Amendment prohibits the government from prosecuting
a person twice for the same offense. The amendment says that no person shall be
“subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life.”

• Self-Incrimination. The Fifth Amendment is also the source of a person’s right

against self-incrimination (no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be
a witness against himself”). The debate over the limits of this right has given rise
to an immense literature. In broadest outline, the right against self-incrimination
means that the prosecutor may not call a defendant to the witness stand during
trial and may not comment to the jury on the defendant’s failure to take the stand.
Moreover, a defendant’s confession must be excluded from evidence if it was not
voluntarily made (e.g., if the police beat the person into giving a confession).

• Speedy Trial. The Sixth Amendment tells the government that it must try
defendants speedily. It requires all criminal prosecutions to go to trial within
seventy-five days.

• Assistance of Counsel. The Sixth Amendment guarantees criminal defendants the

right to have the assistance of defense counsel.

• Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Punishment under the common law was frequently
horrifying. Death was a common punishment for relatively minor crimes. In many
places throughout the world, punishments persist that seem cruel and unusual,
such as the practice of stoning someone to death. In pre-Revolutionary America,
an unlucky defendant who found himself convicted could face brutal torture before
death
Comprehension questions
• Analyze the implications of the Fourth Amendment in relation to the concept of
unreasonable searches and seizures. How does this amendment protect the rights of
individuals accused of crimes? Provide examples from the text to support your answer.
• Discuss the significance of the Fifth Amendment's protections against double jeopardy and
self-incrimination. How do these protections contribute to the fairness of the criminal
justice system? Refer to specific phrases in the text that illustrate these concepts.
• Examine the role of the Sixth Amendment in ensuring a defendant's right to a speedy trial
and assistance of counsel. How do these rights reflect the principles of justice and due
process? Use evidence from the text to substantiate your argument.
Video watch
• You are going to watch a video from the
series The Good Wife (CBS). The lawyer • Answer the following questions related
in the video refers to one of the to the video:
constitutional rights described above.
• a. Why does the witness refuse to
Which one?
answer the question?
• b. Why does the judge think that the
witness doesn’t want to answer?
• c. What does the lawyer say she will do
if the judge continues with his question?
• d. What is the judge’s conclusion?
The Good Wife-
Julianna
Margulies
The Good Wife is an American
legal political drama television
series that aired on CBS from
September 22, 2009, to May 8,
2016. Wikipedia
You are a lawyer and last week you had the following dialogue with a new
client. Read the conversation and do the following writing task

• Client: Good morning, Mr. Smith. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.

• Lawyer: Good morning, Ms. Johnson. It's my pleasure. How can I assist you today?

• Client: Well, I tried to make a payment with my credit card yesterday, but it was declined. I knew I had enough money on it, so I contacted my bank. They told me that my card had been used in a series of online transactions, and I had
exceeded my credit limit. But I didn't make those transactions.

• Lawyer: That sounds very concerning, Ms. Johnson. Did the bank provide any details about these transactions?

• Client: Yes, they gave me a list of the transactions, and they were all made over the past week. I didn't recognize any of them.

• Lawyer: It seems like you might be dealing with a case of identity theft. Have you noticed any other unusual activity or received any suspicious emails or messages recently?

• Client: Now that you mention it, I did receive a few emails asking for my personal information, but I ignored them. I didn't think much of it at the time.

• Lawyer: It's possible that someone obtained your personal information and used it to make these transactions. The first step is to contact your bank and report the fraud. They should be able to freeze your account and investigate the
unauthorized transactions.

• Client: I've already done that. The bank has frozen my account and is looking into the matter.

• Lawyer: That's good to hear. Next, you should file a police report. Identity theft is a serious crime, and having a police report can help with any future disputes or claims.

• Client: I'll do that right away. Is there anything else I should be aware of?

• Lawyer: Yes, you should also consider placing a fraud alert on your credit reports with the major credit bureaus. This will make it harder for the thief to open new accounts in your name. Additionally, monitor your accounts closely for any
further suspicious activity.

• Client: Thank you, Mr. Smith. I appreciate your advice. I'll take these steps immediately.

• Lawyer: You're welcome, Ms. Johnson. If you need any further assistance or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

• Client: I will. Thank you again.

Writing

• Write a follow-up email based on the

previous lawyer-client interview. Include
the following points:
1. A suitable greeting
2. Confirmation that you would be
pleased to act for your client
3. A summary of the main points
discussed
4. Details of the next stages
5. A suitable ending
Discussion

• Should people who commit white-collar crimes be punished in the same way as
people who commit other crimes?