lawyers.com - Untitled 3

Right to Effective Counsel and Attachment of the Right to Counsel

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees a defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel in criminal proceedings. Effective assistance of counsel is presumed. If the defendant claims that his counsel was...

CHALLENGING A JURY ARRAY

A jury array is a list of jurors who are summoned to appear for jury duty. Jurors for a particular trial are selected from the jury array. A defendant is entitled to challenge the jury array. The defendant usually discovers flaws in the jury...

CONDUCT & CAUSATION

Conduct

A defendant's conduct does not constitute a criminal offense unless the conduct is prohibited by a statute, a municipal ordinance, or a rule. The word "conduct" means an act or a failure to act. The...

DURESS AS A DEFENSE

If another person compels a defendant to commit an offense, the defendant may claim that he or she committed the offense under duress. The defense of duress means that the defendant did not have the necessary mental state to commit the offense or...

Competency and Sequestration of Witnesses

Testimony of witnesses is a common way to present evidence during a criminal trial. However, before the testimony of a witness can be accepted during a defendant's trial it must be established that the witness...