Due Process and Jurisprudence
Introduction:
This legislation sees to detail Due Process and Jurisprudence, as well as court procedure and the Statute of Limitations.Constitutional Justification:
The San Andreas Constitution, under Article III, enshrines a Citizen's Right to a Fair Trial and Due Process - a fair trial and due process of law.Application:
The Judicial Process of Trial will befall the following guidelines:Court Proceedings will follow a standardized Judicial process; this includes, but not limited to judicial discretion of scheduling of all court proceedings based on offenses and type of proceedings requested. It is required that all parties of proceedings have a correct submission of documentation and summary of the request. The Los Santos Justice Dept. (LSJ) will maintain internal guidelines for the conduct and expectations of trials. Specialty trials will follow different proceedings based on type:
Bench Trials shall begin at the discretion of a ready and able Judicial member.
- If the Bench Trial stems from a warrant, appropriately signed by a member of LEO Command structure, the Defendant may request a Bench Review of the warrant. This is not a full Trial including questioning, but ****ly a Judicial review of the veracity of the warrant. The Judge will either dismiss the charges due to lack of probable cause stated in the warrant or the Defendant will be sent to jail and will be able to appeal the charges at a later date when the issuing officer is available.
- If a Judge is unavailable, the defendant’s only option is as follows:
- Plead NOT GUILTY:
- Sentenced, full time, pay full fine
- The defendant can request an appeal within 30 days
- Plead NOT GUILTY:
- Once a Bench Trial has been requested and acknowledged by a Judge/Justice, the individual must be seen by a Judge/Justice before they can be fined or imprisoned.
Appeals: Every citizen has the right to appeal charges placed upon them in court, unless a Judicial power dismissed or adjourned a case with prejudice. Citizens have 30 days to appeal charges from the day the charges were placed against them. Citizens may only appeal once, i.e. only two chances for Judicial Consideration regarding any case is available to citizens.
Hold Until Trial (HUT) Guidelines: Citizens who are charged with HUT charges will be held initially for a maximum of 24hrs unless exigent circumstances avail the situation. An individual will then be brought before the Court and an initial Bail Hearing will be held.
The Judge will hear both Prosecution and Defence’s case for Bail, and if accepted, the following will apply as standard:
- Defendant is placed on tag
- Defendant plays 50% of the fine UP FRONT
- Defendant must produce themselves at a police station DAILY for tag recharge.
- If you’re found guilty whilst on tag, DOUBLE time, DOUBLE fine.
- At a Judge’s discretion, commission of crime may see your bail revoked entirely, and be remanded in custody until your trial.
Mistrials: Mistrials may only be called and approved by a Judicial Power of whom is presiding over the case in which the mistrial is designated, or a Justice of the San Andreas Department of Justice. All Judicial Powers or attorneys are REQUIRED by the State of San Andreas to motion for a mistrial if any rights herein are violated during due process or trials.
Writ of Habeas Corpus: San Andreas recognizes the Writ of Habeas Corpus as a tool by which attorneys may request release of their Client(s) given several factors. First, their Client(s) must be on a hold with no formal charges pressed by Docket filing. This does not include approved investigative holds by a Judicial Power or PD Command Members. Writs of Habeus Corpus can only be recognised when a citizen has been held for more than 12 hrs without formal charges being brought against them.
Investigative Holds: PD Command are able to do their own investigative detainments of up to 6 hours, anything beyond that is to be approved by a Judicial Power and is not to exceed 72 hours total. To hold an individual upon investigation, the state must have reasonable suspicion upon the individual that they were involved in a crime.
Common Law of San Andreas: all Judicial Powers, Attorneys, and Police Department(s) shall follow the common law of the State of San Andreas. The LSJ shall create a working list of all common law decided from court cases it has heard. Common Law may only be decided by a Justice from the San Andreas Department of Justice. This also includes common case laws such as:
- Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985).
- Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968).
- Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106 (1977).
- Wyoming v. Houghton, 526 U.S. 295 (1999).
- Carroll v. United States 267 U.S. 132 (1925).
- Miranda v. Arizona (1966).
There are three potential outcomes for a criminal trial held in the State of San Andreas. They are defined as follows:
- Guilty: The accused citizen in question has been found to be criminally liable and responsible for the charges they are accused of. This means they have been convicted of a crime or they have admitted they have committed the crime they are accused of.
- Not Guilty: Not Guilty as a ruling means that the accused citizen has been found to be innocent of the criminal charges they are accused of.
- Mistrial: A case being declared a mistrial means that the entire trial and process have been terminated without a verdict rendered. This means that the case can be rescheduled to be heard properly.
Attorney Client Confidentiality: Attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications between a lawyer/attorney and their client that relate to the client's seeking of legal advice or services. This protection extends to any information exchanged during these privileged communications, encompassing not only verbal discussions but also written correspondence, emails, text messages, and other forms of communication.
Double Jeopardy: Citizens of the State of San Andreas shall not be prosecuted twice for the same criminal incident. The only exception to this is the Delayed Death Exception, which is when an individual is charged with a violent felony or other charge relating to the attempted murder or injury on a person. If the individual(s) who were harmed die at a later date from the injuries sustained in the original crime, the charge may be revisited by prosecutors and re-tried with the new appropriate charge.
Warrants:
Warrants are broken down into the following categories, and require the following oversight:
- Arrest - Signed by a member of LEO Command Structure
- Search/Seizure - Signed by a member of LEO Command AND a Judge/Justice.
