Criminal Procedure

1 . Double jeopardy is a procedural defense and stems from the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution , which guarantees that no .person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ' Double Jeopardy protects an individual 's interest in the finality of acquittals and it protects him from suffering any prejudice from the stress and risks of additional proceedings (Thomas , 1988 . There are three essential protections included in double jeopardy (1 ) in protection from being retried for the same crime after an acquittal (2

) protection from retrial after a conviction and (3 ) protection from being punished multiple times for the same offense

2 . In the language of Duncan v . Louisiana (1968 , [p]roviding an accused with the right to be tried by a jury of his peers gave him an inestimable safeguard against the corrupt or overzealous prosecutor and against the compliant , biased , or eccentric judge ' In certain instances , a bench trial could prove to be to a defendant 's advantage The defense counsel also should consider whether there are facts that would engender juror sympathy or bias or whether the evidence is too complex for juries . Judges are more likely to understand the legal issues , and will be more familiar with the rules of evidence and criminal procedure . Such a trial avoids having a lengthy procedure of selecting a jury . Pre-trial publicity would not directly prejudice a fair trial , and there would be no need to choose a special venue for the trial . Judges are less vulnerable to cognitive illusions relevant to assessing risk , such as outcome bias , or the tendency to judge decision processes and decisionmaking competence more favorably when the outcome of the decision turns out to be positive (Baron Hershey , 1988 ) and hindsight bias or unconsciously overestimating the likelihood one would have assigned to an event once the outcome is known

3 . Cameras in the courtroom are largely shunned in the eyes of attorneys (Casal , 1999 . Witnesses may alter their story to accommodate a television audience . Second , television can also distract the attention of the judge , lawyers , and other court personnel from the serious matter under consideration . Third , television publicity may dissuade a jury from considering unpopular decisions (Lassiter , 1995 . Fourth , there is also a serious concern about the inevitable slide of commercial television toward the marketing lure of sex , power , and the perverse

Works Cited

Amsterdam , Anthony G (1989 . Trial Manual for the Defense of Criminal Cases , Vol . 3 ,

. 8

Baron , Jonathan Hershey , John C (1988 . Outcome Bias in Decision Evaluation , Journal of Personality Social Psychology , Vol . 54 ,

br 569 , 570 (1988

Bond , Carroll T (1925 . The Maryland Practice of Trying Criminal Cases by Judge Alone , Without Juries , American Bar Association Journal Vol 11 ,

. 699 , 702

Imhoff , Vince Rosenberg , Ariella (12 June 2006 ) Criminal Procedure Jury Trial vs . Bench Trial . Retrieved on November 13 , 2006 from http /www .criminalattorney .com /pages

firm_articles_bench_trial .htm

Lassiter , Christo (January 1995 . Put The Lens Cap Back On Cameras In The...