| Criminal Law Basics |
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| A criminal case arises when either the federal or state government seeks to punish an individual for an act that is a crime. Whereas a civil case typically deals with a dispute over rights and duties that individuals and entities owe to one another. More... |
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| Postconviction Procedures |
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| After a defendant is convicted of a crime, he may decide to file a postconviction motion or appeal his conviction. The types of postconviction motions the defendant may file differ from state to state. The defendant may file several different motions after a judgment has been entered against him. More... |
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| Federal Government's Disclosure Obligations |
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| The federal government has a duty to disclose certain documents and evidence to the defendant. The federal government has a duty to provide the defendant with a copy of his prior criminal record. However, the only information that must be provided to the defendant with respect to his prior criminal record is that which shows which offense the defendant was convicted of. The federal government is not required to provide any other information with respect to the conviction.More... |
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| Joinder of Offenses |
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| If a defendant is charged with multiple offenses, the prosecution may file a motion to join the offenses in order for the defendant to be tried in a single proceeding. Although some prejudice may result from permitting the joinder of offenses, the judicial economy of joinder may outweigh any potential prejudice a jury may have if the defendant is charged with more than one offense. It is within a trial court's discretion to grant or deny a motion to join offenses. The defendant may also request to join her offenses; however most often the prosecution is the party seeking the join the defendant's offenses. More... |
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| JURISDICTION OVER VICTIMLESS CRIMES THAT ARE COMMITTED ON NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATIONS |
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| When a criminal offense is committed on a Native American reservation, jurisdiction over the offense will depend upon whether the victim of the offense is a Native American or a non-Native American. If the victim of the offense is a Native American, either the federal government or a tribal court will generally assume jurisdiction over the offense. If the victim of the offense is a non-Native American, the state in which the reservation is located will generally assume jurisdiction over the offense.
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