...The difference between trial courts and appellate courts are complex, but are two important entities necessary within the justice system. Trial courts grant the initial pass for a civil or criminal proceeding to have a voice in court. Appellate courts have authority to reassess findings decided on at trial court level. There are four essential parts amidst trial and appellate courts: purpose, evidence, juries, and judges (Ehow.com, 2012). Purpose Trial court focuses on finding the facts in determining the best decision for the case brought forth. The focus for appellate court is quite different since the facts in the proceeding came from trial court level. Appellate court consists of two considerably uncommon aspects. One aspect determines if either group was granted an unbiased hearing. The other aspect establishes if law was properly used in the case and to determine if for any reason to alter the law (Ehow.com, 2012). Evidence In trial court, the two groups show proof in convincing juries or judges that each statement given is convincing enough to take into consideration as the truth. Forms of evidence offered may come as an eye witness as well as an illustration. Additionally, since the establishment of the facts was decided in trial court, no other evidence may enter in the appellate court level. As an alternative, disputing lawyers in appellate court formulate a strategy on the basis of laws and procedure matters (Ehow.com, 2012). Juries ...
Words: 430 - Pages: 2
...1. CheckPoint: Trial and Appellate Courts • Write a 200- to 300-word response answering Discussion Question 1 on p. 488 in The Courts in Our Criminal Justice System. How are appellate courts different from trial courts? How do the functions, roles, and outcomes of appellate courts set them apart from trial courts? Appellate courts differ from trial courts in various ways. Trial courts find the facts of a case and decide how the law applies in the particular case—this is done on both state and federal levels. Evidence and witnesses are presented and a judge or a jury makes a decision based on the evidence. Appellate courts examine claims where the law was incorrectly applied or where legal procedures were not followed properly. No new evidence is presented but the judge reviews the materials from the trial and decide if the lower court was correct in their judgment. The appeals process is aimed to ensure that a defendant received due process at prior stages of the criminal justice process and it pursues legal goals in the case. Appeals are an important part of the criminal justice system because they are a means to address legal issues under the basis of stare decisis; where precedent is respected in the law but legal societal and technological changes bring new issues to the courts. Legal questions often arise from such issues and become the subject of appeals. The appellate court then produces a holding that contributes to legal precedent on the issue. The court’s holding...
Words: 444 - Pages: 2
...Trial and Appellate Courts State and appellate courts work with each other but have very different roles in the justice system. State courts listen to facts about a case and try to keep the victims and the accused rights from being violated. Appellate courts make sure that the rights of the accused have not been violated. In the state courts system an accused has a right to a jury of peers. It is up to the state to prove burden of guilt while the accused does not have to prove they are innocent. They are already considered innocent until they are proven guilty. In the appellate court the one that starts the appeal is the one that must prove that wrong was done to them, so if the accused files an appeal they must prove that there was an injustice to their rights during the trial to get justice from the appeal courts. In state trials a prosecutor argues the facts as they see it to a judge and possibly a jury (depending on if it’s a trial jury or a bench trial). The defense also gets this right. Both parties get to introduce witnesses and evidence for or against the accused. In the appellate court there can be an oral argument, but most appellate courts only see paper arguments that have been filed by the one who feels that their rights were not considered. If an accused rights are violated, such as lack of legal representation. If there are errors during the trial, such as the defense not doing proper representation is a reason for an appeal...
Words: 310 - Pages: 2
...Subject: Typical State Court System (Prazen vs Shoop) A typical state court system is designed to hear and rule various legal disputes and consists of limited-jurisdiction trial court, general-jurisdiction trial court, intermediate appellate court, and a supreme court. Limited-jurisdiction trial court also referenced as inferior trial courts preside over small claims courts, municipal courts, and justice of the peace courts. General-jurisdiction trial court or courts of record require that all evidence and testimonies are recorded and saved for future review. Two divisions of court of records consist of criminal and civil courts and preside over major legal cases, such as felonies. Intermediate appellate courts, referred to as appellate courts or courts of appeal presides over cases that have been heard in courts of record and all or part of the trial records is submitted for review. The appellate court gives its decision based solely on the facts that support the evidence. The final and highest court layer is the state supreme court; in which cases must have been heard in appellate court and certain trial courts (Cheeseman, 2013). In most cases, a supreme court verdict is final. The case of Prazen vs Shoop was processed through the state court system. Joseph Prazen retired from the City of Peru’s electrical department as the superintendent at the bottom of 1998 (Illinois Court, 2014). Prazen was able to secure his pension of more than 32 years of service with...
Words: 693 - Pages: 3
...The primary function of the federal courts is to apply and enforce all federal laws created by Congress. These laws, in the form of statutes or codifi ed law, include a large body of federal criminal laws that range from violations of environmental laws to treason and piracy. (Chapt. 8, p. 12) The federal courts have a second and perhaps even more important function: They are continually called on to test the constitutionality of federal and state legislation and of court decisions. (Ch.8, p.13) At the lowest level of jurisdiction are the federal magistrates, formerly called United States commissioners. The magistrates not only have trial jurisdiction over minor federal offenses, but they also have the important task of issuing warrants of arrest or search warrants to federal law enforcement offi cers, such as agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Congress expanded the power of the federal magistrates by allowing them to “undertake virtually any task performed by district judges, except for felony trials and sentencing. (Ch.8, p.13) The trial courts in the federal system, called United States district courts , have both civil and criminal jurisdiction. (Ch.8, p.13) An appeal of a conviction in a federal district court is heard by a United States circuit court of appeal . The last handles appeals that originate anywhere in the country when they pertain to such matters as patents and copyrights, some...
Words: 1631 - Pages: 7
...Read more: Role of a Police Officer | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5007770_role-police-officer.html#ixzz1tRP3wAxg Read more: Role of a Police Officer | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5007770_role-police-officer.html#ixzz1tRPGtoCW Read more: Role & Duties of a District Attorney | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7774779_role-duties-district-attorney.html#ixzz1tRSe3av7 Learn About Cost, Courses, & More For Colleges With CSI Programs '12 www.CampusExplorer.com/CSI Read more: Role & Duties of a District Attorney | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7774779_role-duties-district-attorney.html#ixzz1tRSozElQ Read more: Assistant District Attorney Job Description | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6678588_assistant-district-attorney-job-description.html#ixzz1tRTlS8rU Read more: Assistant District Attorney Job Description | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6678588_assistant-district-attorney-job-description.html#ixzz1tRTwBvmX * Read more: Assistant District Attorney Job Description | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6678588_assistant-district-attorney-job-description.html#ixzz1tRU8Bc2n Police Investigate Filing of Criminal Complaint After an alleged crime is investigated, the police initiate the criminal procedure by filing a complaint with the Magisterial District Judge (MDJ) in the area that the crime occurred. Once the complaint is filed, the MDJ will issue either a summons or a warrant of arrest, depending generally on the...
Words: 10970 - Pages: 44
...| The Massachusetts Trial Court | We’re Not Quite Done Yet | | | | Marissa Pina | May 11, 2015 | | Table of Contents The Massachusetts Court System: Massachusetts Trial Court 2 Functions of the Human Resources Department 6 The Massachusetts Trial Court Human Resources Department 8 My Role within the Human Resources Department 9 Old Practices 10 Turning Point 13 The New Hiring Process 14 We’re Not Done Yet! 18 Review of Kotter’s 8 step Model 22 Human Capital, the most Important Asset of an Organization 25 My Hopes 26 The Massachusetts Court System Massachusetts Trial Court Focus The Massachusetts Court System consists of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Appeals Court, and the Executive Office of the Trial Court, the 7 Trial Court Departments, the Office of the Commissioner of Probation, and the Office of the Jury Commissioner. For the purpose of this paper I will be discussing my place of work which is the Massachusetts Trial Court consisting of: Executive Office of the Trial Court, the 7 Trial Court Departments (Boston Municipal Court, District Court, Juvenile Court, Superior Court, Housing Court, Land Court, and Probate and Family Court), Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP), and the Office of Jury Commissioner. Exhibit 1 Massachusetts Trial Court is committed to fair and impartial administration of justice; protection...
Words: 6984 - Pages: 28
...Source: OH Courts of Appeals Cases from 1913 Project ID: FOCUS - 1 of 1 DOCUMENT REBECCA KOOP, Plaintiff-Appellant, - vs - SPEEDWAY SUPERAMERICA, LLC, et al., Defendants-Appellees. CASE NO. CA2008-09-110 COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, WARREN COUNTY 2009-Ohio-1734; 2009 Ohio App. LEXIS 1469 April 13, 2009, Decided PRIOR HISTORY: [**1] CIVIL APPEAL FROM WARREN COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. Case No. 07CV69537. CASE SUMMARY: PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant personal injury victim filed suit against appellee store alleging that it was negligent in its cleaning of a coffee spill, upon which she slipped and fell. The store filed a motion for summary judgment. The Warren County Court of Common Pleas (Ohio) granted summary judgment for the store. The victim appealed. OVERVIEW: The victim argued that the trial court erred by failing to consider the incident report and corresponding witness statements. The appellate court held that the trial court did not err by disregarding the document due to its lack of authenticity. There was no indication that the document, purported to be an employee witness statement, was sworn or certified, nor was there any evidence presented to establish its authenticity by affidavit. Further, the incident report, and the alleged corresponding witness statements, did not meet the admissibility requirements of Civ. R. 56, and therefore, were not entitled to consideration by the trial court for summary...
Words: 3758 - Pages: 16
...Court System Paper Teresa Wilson CJA 204 Dec. 5, 2011 Mrs. Dorey Court System Paper The court systems have been around for hundreds of years. Our court system has come a very long way since then. I mean back then our first court was actually back in the 1789 which was small and hierarchy compared to the was courts are now days. In the 1789 the first bill was put into action. From this we got what is called “the original American court system for resolving criminal and civil dispute.”( Schmalleger, 2009. Our state courts have developed several models. They have followed the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789, which later became the reorganization Act of 1801, which has made more models for the state courts. They follow the federal model development three-tiered structure. They are 1.) Trial courts of limited jurisdiction, 2.) Trial courts of general jurisdiction and 3.) Appellate courts. It was soon found that the three-tiered models were not that great. It did provide local and specialized courts proliferated. Traffic courts, magistrates courts, and probate courts, just to name a few, that functioned at a lower levels. The (ABA) better known as the American Bar Association and even the American Judicator Society. Helped the simplification of state court structures, they also help the state form the models. Among the state courts there are different levels of courts, they are the state trial courts that criminal cases begin. In the trail courts bail...
Words: 1094 - Pages: 5
...role of the dual court system is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the American justice system. FEDERALISM vs. ANTI-FEDERALISM The roots of the modern court system in the United States can be found in the principle of federalism. When the delegates met in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention among other issues that needed to be addressed was a national judicial system; the Articles of Confederation was woefully inadequate in providing for this. The dual judicial system that exists today was given life with the passage of Article III of the U.S. Constitution ("[t]he judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.") Article III was a compromise between the Federalists, supporters of a strong central government, who thought that the federal judiciary should contain all of the courts (trial, appellate, and supreme). Whereas the Anti-Federalists, proponents of states’ rights, believed that an all-inclusive federal judiciary would minimize states’ rights and lead to an all-powerful federal government. Instead of the all-inclusive federal judiciary, they proposed that states hold jurisdiction over trial and appellate courts and that a national supreme court would hear final appeals. One of Congress’ first acts when it first met was to pass the Judiciary Act of 1789. This laid out the establishment of the Supreme Court,...
Words: 1654 - Pages: 7
...Guam Unified Court System Research Paper for Judicial Process Instructor: Doctor Elberg By Donna Halbrook Guam Unified Court System The Judiciary of Guam is pleased to join the United States of America as the fifty-first state. The newest chapter of our judiciary journey begins with some major objectives in mind. One of these objectives is to increase access to justice for every member of our community. Another major objective is to ensure the Judiciary serves as a model of good governance. We will promote accountability, performance, and transparency (Torres 2010). The new court will be a unified court system, very serving and strong at the foundation levels where we meet the people at. We will start at the foundation and build to the highest court, the State Supreme Court of Guam. Supreme Court Court of Appeals [Problem Solving Courts] Foundation Courts Foundation Courts: Problem Solving Courts | Village Court | Trial Court | Family Court | Village Courts The Village Courts will play a vital role in the Guam State Unified Court System. These courts have broad jurisdiction and they hear both civil and criminal matters (New York State Office of Court Administration 1996-2011). In Guam, this will be for the smaller but very numerous legal affairs of our citizens. There will be a Village Court associated with each of the four police precincts, thus embracing the entire population of Guam. The offices and chambers for these courts will be in close...
Words: 5605 - Pages: 23
...JOSE C. TUPAZ IV and G.R. No. 145578 PETRONILA C. TUPAZ, Petitioners, Present: Davide, Jr., C.J., Chairman, - versus - Quisumbing, Ynares-Santiago, Carpio, and Azcuna, JJ. THE COURT OF APPEALS and BANK OF THE PHILIPPINE Promulgated: ISLANDS, Respondents. November 18, 2005 x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x DECISION CARPIO, J.: The Case This is a petition for review[1] of the Decision[2] of the Court of Appeals dated 7 September 2000 and its Resolution dated 18 October 2000. The 7 September 2000 Decision affirmed the ruling of the Regional Trial Court, Makati, Branch 144 in a case for estafa under Section 13, Presidential Decree No. 115. The Court of Appeals Resolution of 18 October 2000 denied petitioners motion for reconsideration. The Facts Petitioners Jose C. Tupaz IV and Petronila C. Tupaz (petitioners) were Vice-President for Operations and Vice-President/Treasurer, respectively, of El Oro Engraver Corporation (El Oro Corporation). El Oro Corporation had a contract with the Philippine Army to supply the latter with survival bolos. To finance the purchase of the raw materials for the survival bolos, petitioners, on behalf of El Oro Corporation, applied with respondent Bank of the Philippine Islands (respondent bank) for two commercial letters of credit. The letters of credit were in favor of El Oro Corporations suppliers, Tanchaoco Manufacturing Incorporated[3](Tanchaoco...
Words: 3967 - Pages: 16
...two major court systems in the United States are the federal and state court systems. They are each set up review different types of lawsuits (Cheeseman, 2013). This memo will review the levels of the state court system as well as the various methods of alternative dispute resolution. The case of AMF Incorporated v. Brunswick Corp will be reviewed in the discussion of the state court systems. The companies signed an arbitration agreement but Brunswick advertised a new product which AMF disputed and requested arbitration. State Court Systems The majority of state courts include limited-jurisdiction trial courts, general-jurisdiction trial courts, intermediate appellate courts, and a supreme court (Cheeseman, 2013). Limited-Jurisdiction Trial Courts State limited-jurisdiction trial courts or inferior courts are in use to hear specific types of litigation such as traffic, family law and misdemeanor criminal cases. The decision of these courts can be appealed to a general-jurisdiction court or an appellate court. In the case of AMF v. Brunswick this process did not occur. General-Jurisdiction Trial Courts General-jurisdiction trial courts hear cases beyond the jurisdiction of limited trial courts. Judgments from these courts can be appealed to an intermediate appellate court or their state's supreme court. In the case of AMF v. Brunswick the case was heard by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Intermediate Appellate Courts In many...
Words: 713 - Pages: 3
...delays plague n1ost courts in cities, given the huge volume of cases filed each year and the slow and cumbersome adversarial syste1n that Lhe judiciary has in place; Whereas, about 40% of criminal cases are disn1issed annually owing to the fact that con1plainants sin1ply give up con1ing to court after repeated postponen1ents; Whereas, few foreign businessn1en n1ake long-tenn investments in the Philippines because its courts are unable to provide ample and speedy protection to their investn1ents, keeping its people poor; Whereas, in order to reduce the time needed for cotnpleting the testimonies of witnesses in cases under litigation, on February 21, 2012 the Supren1e Court approved for piloting by trial courts in Quezon City the compulsory use of judicial affidavits in place of the direct teslin1onies of wih1esses; Whereas, it is reported that such piloting has quickly resulted in reducing by about two-thirds the tin1e used for presenting the testin1onies of wih1esses, thus speeding up the hearing and adjudication of cases; Whereas, the Supreme Court Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court, headed by Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, and the Sub-Comn1ittee on the Revision of the Rules on Civil Procedure, headed by Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad, have recon1mended for adoption a Judicial Affidavit Rule that will replicate nationwide the success of the Quezon City experience in the use of judicial affidavits; and 11\!lzereas, the Supren1e Court En Bane finds n1erit...
Words: 2116 - Pages: 9
...functions of trial courts. The trial court's basic function is to resolve disputes by determining the facts and applying legal principles to decide who is right. The appellate court's task is to determine whether the law was applied correctly in the trial court. 2. What is the difference between a dissenting and a concurring opinion? So Majority opinion is called the "Opinion of the Court," this is the official verdict in the case that represents the vote of the majority of justices Dissenting opinion is an opinion that is written by a justice who disagrees with the majority Concurring opinion is an opinion that agrees with the decision but may disagree with the some of the reasoning behind the Court opinion, or may elaborate on a point made or introduce further relevant information 3. List the major differences between trial and appellate courts. Trial courts are the courts where cases start. In the trial court, both sides present evidence to show their version of what happened but in the appellate courts, there are no witnesses, and no evidence is presented. Also the second difference between the two courts is the judges. In trial courts, there is one judge in the courtroom. That judge decides what evidence can and cannot be used and often decides the outcome of the case. In Indiana, appeals are decided by more then one judge. The last major difference between the trial courts and the appellate courts is the role of...
Words: 354 - Pages: 2
