Criminal Law: Post-Trial
What is "sentencing"?
Sentencing is where the defendent comes in front of the judge and the judge imposes a sentence. If it's after trial, the judge may have discretion, and there are rules as to what the judge can sentence. If it's part of a plea bargain, the sentence will already be discussed between the prosecutor and the defense attorney and the judge can either decide to go along with that or not, and will impose sentence.
How soon after a verdict will the sentencing trial be?
It depends. Usually, they put over sentencing for a while for people to calm down, for the, both attourneys to come up with sentencing briefs, so usually there is a delay in sentencing and that date is somewhat flexible. A person does have a right to be sentenced soon but usually that right is waived.
What is "probation"?
If you're not mandated to state prison, the judge within his discretion can grant you probation. Probation means that you maybe have to report to a probation officer, and at the time are suspended. If you stay out of trouble, it's all good, no prison time. It's the way the system works for plea bargaining, and grants of probation are given to people who are suitable candidates for probation. Often within our system, as long as it's not murder or some serious crime, people are generally given one bite of the apple. And for less serious offenses, they'll be granted probation.
What is "supervised release"?
Supervised release could include work release. Supervised released is part of a probationary sentence where you have a probation officer. You also have certain terms and conditions to this release. For example, you may have to wear an ankle bracelet, you might have to be in by certain hours, and you may sleep at a custody facility.
What is "parole"?
If you are sent to state prison, once you are released you are on parole for a period of eight years. If you violate any laws or any terms and conditions of your parole, you can be sent back to prison for violating parole. It is its own offense different than violating probation. Parole is something that is granted after someone has actually served time in a state prison.
Under what circumstances will the court grant me a new trial?
You will be granted a new trial under very rare circumstances where the original trial's verdict was not supported by law. Sometimes a new trial will be granted in rare circumstances when new evidence comes up, but that's up to an appeals court to grant. You will also be issued a new trial if evidence came up that there was serious prosecutorial misconduct in the original trial, termed to be "harmless" or "not harmless" error. And in most cases, if something is omitted in the original trial, or sometimes a question is asked, they term it harmless error; it has to be a very high standard for it to be an error that is not harmless and warrant a new trial.
Can the judge reject a jury's verdict?
In rare circumstances, if they find the verdict does not make sense as part of the law, a judge can reject a jury's verdict. An example might be if the jury find somebody guilty of an assault with a deadly weapon, but not guilty of the underlying battery. If the verdict just doesn't make legal sense, the judge can reject it.
Can I appeal to the Supreme Court?
Anything can be appealed to the Supreme Court post-trail. The Supreme Court only takes review of what they call a writ of certiorari and they grant review of a very limited number of cases. There has to be a federal question, a constitutional question, a question between states, or a question between an individual and a state. There's a very specific set of guidelines under which the Supreme Court can grant cert.
