Criminal procedure refers to the set of rules and regulations that govern the legal processes followed in the investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of criminal offenses. It outlines the steps and safeguards that must be observed by law enforcement, prosecutors, and courts to ensure fairness, protect individual rights, and uphold the principles of justice. Criminal procedure encompasses various stages, including arrest, search and seizure, interrogation, bail, arraignment, discovery, trial, sentencing, and appeals. It establishes the framework for balancing the interests of society in punishing criminal conduct with the need to safeguard the rights of individuals accused of crimes. The goal of criminal procedure is to maintain due process, ensure the integrity of the legal system, and safeguard against unlawful actions or abuses by the authorities, ultimately striving for a just and equitable resolution of criminal cases.
The exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment allows the police to conduct a search or seizure without first obtaining a warrant if there is an urgent need to do so to prevent serious harm, the destruction of evidence, or the escape of a suspect. In other words, if there is …
Miranda rights, also known as the Miranda warnings, are a set of legal rights that must be read to a suspect who is both under arrest and being interrogated by a law enforcement officer in the United States. The Miranda warning is named after the U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 …
The automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement is a legal doctrine that allows the police to conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle if they have probable cause to believe that the vehicle contains evidence of a crime or contraband. The U.S. Supreme Court created the automobile exception in the landmark case of …
A Terry stop refers to a brief detention or stop of an individual by a law enforcement officer, based on reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. The name comes from the 1968 U.S. Supreme Court case, Terry v. Ohio, which established that a police officer …
Probable cause is a legal standard used by law enforcement officials to justify an arrest, a search, or the issuance of a warrant. It refers to the reasonable belief, based on facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time, that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed, and …
An Alford plea is a type of guilty plea in criminal court where the Defendant does not admit to committing the crime, but acknowledges that the State has enough evidence to convict him or her. By entering an Alford plea, the Defendant is essentially admitting that they would likely be found guilty of the crime …
An indictment is a charging document or written accusation that a prosecutor submits to a grand jury to aid the prosecutor in deciding whether or not to charge a person with a crime. If the grand jury finds that there is probable cause to believe that (i) a crime was committed and (ii) the Defendant …
With certain exceptions and limitations, the spousal privilege provides that the spouse of a Defendant on trial for a crime may not be compelled or forced to testify as an adverse witness against the Defendant spouse. See Md. Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 9-106. It most commonly arises in cases of domestic violence or assault …
Table of Contents The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Maryland Declaration of Rights guarantee that every person accused of a crime has the right to speedy trial. This blog post will focus only on the constitutional aspect of the right to a speedy trial (not the Maryland Declaration of Rights or Maryland laws). The Sixth Amendment’s …
A stet is a special type of disposition or resolution of a criminal or serious traffic case pursuant to Md. Rule 4-248 in which the State’s Attorney asks the court to mark a case as “inactive” or place it on what is sometimes referred to as the “stet docket” for three years, usually with one or …
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