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Week 1 Assignment State Court System

Trial Courts
Trial Courts are also called "Superior Courts." There are 58 Trial Courts--one in each county. In the Trial Courts, a judge, and sometimes a jury, hears testimony and evidence and decides a case by applying the law to the facts of the case. Superior Courts handle: * All criminal cases (felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic tickets) * All civil cases (family law, probate, juvenile, and other civil cases) * Appeals of small claims cases and other civil cases worth $25,000 or less * Appeals of misdemeanor cases
Appellate Courts
There are two types of Appellate Courts: * Courts of Appeal * California Supreme Court
There are 6 Courts of Appeal and one California Supreme Court.
Courts of Appeal
The Courts of Appeal are California's intermediate courts of review. District headquarters for the Courts of Appeal are located in: * First District: San Francisco * Second District: Los Angeles * Third District:Sacramento * Fourth District: San Diego (Division One) * Fifth District: Fresno * Sixth District:San Jose
People who are not satisfied with a Trial Court decision can appeal their case in an Appellate Court. When they "appeal", they ask a higher-level court to change what the Trial Court decided.
The role of the Courts of Appeal is not to give new trials, but to review the Superior Court record (court files and transcripts) to decide if legal errors were made. To do this, the Court of Appeals may hear arguments from each side. Each side gets a chance to make a presentation and to answer the judges' questions. The oral arguments are open to the public, but there are no juries or witnesses. The Courts of Appeal cannot review death penalty cases.
In each Court of Appeal, a panel of three judges, called "justices," decides appeals from Superior Courts.

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