Greenville Municipal Court s Vision. To promote accuracy and efficiency in our information for the benefit of our external and internal partners.

Transcription

1 Jury Trials

2 Greenville Municipal Court s Vision To promote accuracy and efficiency in our information for the benefit of our external and internal partners.

3 Mission To provide the effective administration of justice through timemanaged accuracy, effective productivity, and a strict focus on the organization as a whole.

4 Excellence is the gradual result of always wanting to do better. - Pat Riley, Coach Miami Heat

5 In The Beginning Jury Trials shall be requested ORALLY by the DEFENDANT or DEFENSE ATTORNEY at the time of the scheduled bench trial, or By WRITTEN REQUEST field with the Clerk of Court prior to the court date by MAIL, FAX, or COURIER.

6 Officer Notification If a defendant or defense attorney requests a jury trial before to the regularly scheduled bench trial, the Deputy Clerk(s) advise the officers prior to court. It is the officer s responsibility to provide the City Attorney s office with the respective paperwork for his/her case.

7 Jury Trial Procedures There are two sets of procedures used in Greenville Municipal Court to prepare for Jury Trials: Creating the Jury Trial Docket Generating the Juror List

8 Calendar Schedule Jury Trial terms throughout the year and notify Police Department and other departments/agencies of No Regular Court scheduled during those weeks. Jury Trials terms are scheduled with due regard for conflicts with the Court of General Sessions and the nature of the trial docket (5 annually). The Deputy Clerk at least 45 days prior to a Jury Trial term prepares the Docket and the Juror List.

9 Creating the Docket Report is generated with the pending Jury Trial cases sorted chronologically by violation date. An average of 100 defendants cases are included on the docket (approximately 500 defendants per year). Twenty-five (25) defendants cases are scheduled for trial each day. If a defense attorney has more than one defendant, this is taken into consideration when scheduling the cases per day.

10 Pre-Trial Conferences The Jury Trial docket is delivered to the City Attorney s office. Pre-Trial Conference sessions are scheduled Officers Defense Attorneys & Pro-Se Defendants Conferences are held at the courthouse Judges are available to accept any guilty pleas that may be negotiated.

11 Notifications & Continuances Notice is served on the Defendant or Defense Attorney Request for Continuances are submitted in writing for Judicial Review If the request is made based on unavailability for specific day - transferred to different day in same term Otherwise, transferred to the next term Communicated with City Attorney

12 Docket Finalization Docket is finalized a week prior to Jury Trials. Cases resolved during Pre-Trial Conferences and continued to the next term are removed from the docket.

13 Juror List Juror list is generated 45 days prior to Jury Trial term 100 jurors are pulled for each term Summonses are served by regular mail Request for transfers and excuses are received and come under Judicial Review A final list is provided to the City Attorney and Defense Attorneys

14 First Day of Jury Trials A daily roll call of cases set for disposition, with defense attorneys, defendants, officers and witnesses present and all guilty pleas will be take prior to jury selection Jurors are checked in and placed in a separate courtroom.

15 2009 Results 60% 82% 61% 31% Feb Mar May Aug

16 Pending Jury Trials 309 Criminal Cases oldest case is April 4, Traffic Cases oldest case is January 3, total cases pending

17 People always ask, Is the change over? Can we stop now? You ve got to tell them, No, its just begun. They must come to understand that it is never ending. Leaders must create an atmosphere where people understand that change is a continuing process, not an event. - Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric Company

18 Questions or More Details? Clerk of Court Assistant Clerk of Court

19 INDIGENT DEFENSE IN SOUTH CAROLINA MUNICIPAL COURTS Hugh Ryan General Counsel, South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense

20 I. Right to Counsel A. United States Constitution (6 th Amendment) i. Alabama v. Shelton ii. Rothgery v. Texas II. South Carolina Court Rules B. Rule 602 (Defense of Indigents) C. Rule 608 (Appointment of Lawyers for Indigents) III. Does South Carolina meet Constitutional requirements? IV. Indigent Defense Act of 2007

21 Supreme Court of the United States ALABAMA, Petitioner, v. LeReed SHELTON. No Argued Feb. 19, Decided May 20, Defendant was convicted in an Alabama Circuit Court of third-degree assault, and was sentenced to a jail term of 30 days, which the trial court immediately suspended, placing defendant on probation for two years. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court of Alabama reversed defendant's suspended sentence, and also vacated the two-year term of probation, and the state petitioned for certiorari. The United States Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg, held that suspended sentence that may end up in actual deprivation of person's liberty may not be imposed unless defendant was accorded guiding hand of counsel in prosecution for crime charged. Affirmed. Justice Scalia filed a dissenting opinion, in which Chief Justice Rehnquist, and Justices Kennedy and Thomas joined.

22 Held: A suspended sentence that may end up in the actual deprivation of a person's liberty may not be imposed unless the defendant was accorded the guiding hand of counsel in the prosecution for the crime charged. Argersinger, 407 U.S., at 40, 92 S.Ct Pp (a) The controlling rule is that absent a knowing and intelligent waiver, no person may be imprisoned for any offense... unless he was represented by counsel at his trial. Argersinger, 407 U.S., at 37, 92 S.Ct Pp

23 In Alabama, the probation revocation hearing is an informal proceeding, at which the defendant has no right to counsel, and the court no obligation to observe customary rules of evidence. More significant, the defendant may not challenge the validity or reliability of the underlying conviction. A hearing so timed and structured cannot compensate for the absence of trial counsel and thereby bring Shelton's sentence within constitutional bounds.

24 Even if amicus is correct that some States cannot afford the costs of the Court's rule, those jurisdictions have recourse to the option of pretrial probation, whereby the prosecutor and defendant agree to the defendant's participation in a pretrial rehabilitation program, which includes conditions typical of post-trial probation, and the adjudication of guilt and imposition of sentence for the underlying offense occur only if the defendant breaches those conditions. This system reserves the appointed-counsel requirement for the few cases in which incarceration proves necessary, see Gagnon, 411 U.S., at 784, 93 S.Ct. 1756, while respecting the constitutional imperative that no person be imprisoned unless he was represented by counsel, Argersinger, 407 U.S., at 37, 92 S.Ct

25 The Court does not rule on Alabama's argument that, although the Sixth Amendment bars activation of a suspended sentence for an uncounseled conviction, the Constitution does not prohibit, as a method of effectuating probationary punishment, the imposition of a suspended sentence that can never be enforced. There is not so much as a hint in the Alabama Supreme Court's decision that Shelton's probation term is separable from the prison term to which it was tethered. Absent any prior presentation of the novel position the State now takes, this Court resists passing on it in the first instance

26 THE DISSENT We affirmed this rule in Scott v. Illinois, 440 U.S. 367, 99 S.Ct. 1158, 59 L.Ed.2d 383 (1979), drawing a bright line between imprisonment and *675 the mere threat of imprisonment: [T]he central premise of Argersinger-that actual imprisonment is a penalty different in kind from fines or the mere threat of imprisonment-is eminently sound and warrants adoption of actual imprisonment as the line defining the constitutional right to appointment of counsel. Id., at 373, 99 S.Ct (emphasis added). We have repeatedly emphasized actual imprisonment as the touchstone of entitlement to appointed counsel.

27 Supreme Court of the United States Walter A. ROTHGERY, Petitioner, v. GILLESPIE COUNTY, TEXAS. No Argued March 17, Decided June 23, Background: Former criminal defendant sued county under 1983, alleging that county violated his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to counsel by following policy of denying appointed counsel to arrestees released from jail on bond and by failing to adequately train and monitor those involved in appointment-of-counsel process. The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, 413 F.Supp.2d 806, granted county's motion for summary judgment, and appeal was taken. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, King, Circuit Judge, 491 F.3d 293, affirmed. Certiorari was

28 Holdings: The Supreme Court, Justice Souter, held that: (1) criminal defendant's initial appearance before magistrate judge, where he learns charge against him and his liberty is subject to restriction, marks initiation of adversary proceedings that trigger attachment of Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and (2) attachment of right to counsel does not also require that public prosecutor, as distinct from police officer, be aware of that initial proceeding or involved in its conduct.

29 Commencement of criminal defendant's right to counsel is pegged to initiation of adversary judicial criminal proceedings, whether by way of formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment. U.S.C.A. Const.Amend. 6.

30 RULE 602 DEFENSE OF INDIGENTS Rules promulgated under the Defense of Indigents Act (Act No. 309) passed by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor on June 17, 1969, were adopted by this Court on January 1, By Order of this Court dated September 20, 1972, the Rules were amended and now read as follows: a) Every person arrested for the commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court of General Sessions, every juvenile to be brought before any court on any charge for which he may be imprisoned, and every person charged with the violation of a probationary sentence shall be taken as soon as practicable before the Clerk of the Court of General Sessions in the county where the charges are preferred, or such other officer or officers as may be designated by the resident judge of the circuit, for the purpose of securing to the accused the right to counsel.

31 In cases involving criminal charges within the jurisdiction of magistrates' courts, municipal courts, or other courts with like jurisdiction, if a prison sentence is likely to be imposed following any conviction, the presiding judge of the court in which the matter is to be determined shall inform the accused as provided in Rule 2 when the case is called for disposition. The procedures concerning juveniles, as provided in Rule 1 and Rule 2 hereof, shall continue to be followed.

32 b) The officer before whom the arrested person is taken shall: (1) Inform the accused of the charges against him and of the nature of the charges. (2) Advise the accused of his right to counsel and of his right to the appointment of counsel by the court, if the accused is financially unable to employ counsel. (3) If the accused represents that he is financially unable to employ counsel, take his application for the appointment of counsel or for the services of the Public Defender where the latter is available in the county.

33 Upon examination of a completed Affidavit of Indigency (Form II), the officer designated to make a determination of indigency shall determine if the accused is indigent. If that officer is unable to make this determination, the final determination whether the accused is indigent shall be made by a judge of the court in which the matter is to be heard.

34 For purposes of this rule, a person is indigent if that person is financially unable to employ counsel. In making a determination whether a person is indigent, all factors concerning the person s financial condition should be considered including income, debts, assets and family situation. A presumption that the person is indigent shall be created if the person s net family income is less than or equal to the Poverty Guidelines established and revised annually by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and published in the Federal Register. Net income shall mean gross income minus deductions required by law.

35 RULE 608 APPOINTMENT OF LAWYERS FOR INDIGENTS (a) Purpose. This rule provides a uniform method of appointing lawyers to serve as counsel or guardians ad litem (GALs) for indigent persons in the circuit and family courts.

36 Does South Carolina Meet Constitutional Test? What does it all really come down to?

37 MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!

38 Indigent Defense Act of 2007 Chain of Command The are local subject matter experts.