Attorney Dwight L. Schwab, in behalf of defendant Philip Weinstein, argued there is no evidence linking Weinstein to the conspiracy, but Judge Powell declared this is a matter for the jury to decide.

`` It is not necessary that a defendant actually have conpired to use the U.S. mails to defraud as long as there is evidence of a conspiracy, and the mails were then used to carry it out ''.

This can mean that where it is the defendant who appeals, the name of the case in the law reports reverses ( in some cases twice ) as the appeals work their way up the court hierarchy.

For example Connecticut applies the following standard to review unpreserved claims: 1. the record is adequate to review the alleged claim of error ; 2. the claim is of constitutional magnitude alleging the violation of a fundamental right ; 3. the alleged constitutional violation clearly exists and clearly deprived the defendant of a fair trial ; 4. if subject to harmless error analysis, the state has failed to demonstrate harmlessness of the alleged constitutional violation beyond a reasonable doubt.

"' The only exception to this is that if a defendant appeals a conviction for a crime having multiple levels of offenses, where they are convicted on a lesser offense, the appeal is of the lesser offense ; the conviction represents an acquittal of the more serious offenses.

If a defendant has been convicted and can prove that his lawyer did not adequately handle his case and that there is a reasonable probability that the result of the trial would have been different had the lawyer given competent representation, he is entitled to a new trial.

In the common law, an answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant.

It may have been preceded by an optional " pre-answer " motion to dismiss or demurrer ; if such a motion is unsuccessful, the defendant must file an answer to the complaint or risk an adverse default judgment.

In a criminal case, there is usually an arraignment or some other kind of appearance before the defendant comes to court.

Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her.

During this arraignment the defendant is informed of the pending legal charges and is informed of his or her right to retain counsel.

During the second arraignment, a post-indictment arraignment or PIA, the defendant is allowed to enter a plea.

# The accused person ( defendant ) is addressed by name ;

If the defendant pleads not guilty, a date is set for a preliminary hearing or a trial.

Allocution is sometimes required of a defendant who pleads guilty to a crime in a plea bargain in exchange for a reduced sentence.

In many other jurisdictions it is for the defense lawyer to mitigate on his client's behalf, and the defendant himself will rarely have the opportunity to speak.

The House of Lords asked the judges of the common law courts to answer five questions on insanity as a criminal defence, and the formulation that emerged from their review — that a defendant should not be held responsible for his actions only if, as a result of his mental disease or defect, he ( i ) did not know that his act would be wrong ; or ( ii ) did not understand the nature and quality of his actions — became the basis of the law governing legal responsibility in cases of insanity in England.

" When an elderly defendant told him that he would not be able to live to complete a five-year sentence, Landis scowled at him and asked, " Well, you can try, can't you?

For example the previous question would not be loaded if it was asked during a trial in which the defendant has already admitted to beating his wife.

In an earlier case, United States v. Valenzuela,, the defendant asked that a federal rent-control law be struck down because it was " the incubator and hatchery of swarms of bureaucrats to be quartered as storm troopers upon the people in violation of Amendment III of the United States Constitution.

One defendant accused of illegally protesting nuclear power, when asked to enter his plea, stated, " I plead for the beauty that surrounds us "; this is known as a " creative plea ," and will usually be interpreted as a plea of not guilty.

Federal court review may review state court judgments in criminal cases by ruling on petitions for a federal writ of habeas corpus, in which a federal court is asked to review whether a defendant has been given due process of law as defined under federal law.

When asked about the test case, Scopes was initially reluctant to get involved, but after some discussion he told the group gathered in Robinson's Drugstore, " If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as a defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial.

Judge Raid Juhi, who investigated Hussein's crimes as Iraqi President, said officials repeatedly asked him if he had ever been beaten ; he answered, " No. " every time, Juhi said, adding that if any defendant had complained of beatings and torture, doctors would have investigated.

The defendant was later asked to bite another piece of cheese for comparison.

When he appeared as a witness, the defendant claimed that after giving an unknown man a lift, he had found that he was running out of petrol and had asked the passenger to take the spare can in the car and fill up the fuel tank.

England and Wales have relatively strict libel laws (" defamation " in Scotland ) in that they are often considered pro plaintiff with the defendant asked to prove that they did not commit libel.

He badly discredits the state's expert doctor in a powerful and snarky cross-examination in which he establishes that the doctor has never conceded to the insanity of any defendant in any criminal case in which he has been asked to testify, even when multiple other doctors have been in consensus otherwise.

For example, the previous question would not be loaded if it was asked during a trial in which the defendant has already admitted to beating their spouse.

Criminals, if deemed unable to be part of the people's community, were severely punished, even executed for crimes that did not provide for the death penalty, such as doubling the sentence the prosecution asked for when a defendant had not helped put out a fire, thus showing a disregard for the life of his " volksgenossen " and community.

Also notable was that Wood did not do McPherson's autopsy personally but assigned it to Robert Davis, an employee who later was asked to resign and was a witness for the defendant ( Scientology ).

If the magistrates decide that the case is suitable to be heard by them then the defendant is asked for consent to do so.

Martineau and Nelson received 13 stays of execution, but were spared the death penalty in 1972 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia, that " unitary trial " procedure, in which the jury was asked to return a verdict of guilt or innocence and, simultaneously, determine whether the defendant would be punished by death or life imprisonment, was in violation of the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution.

The plaintiffs were registered voters who had asked the defendant Federal Elections Commission (" FEC ") to determine that an organization called the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (" AIPAC ") was a " political committee " subject to certain regulations and reporting requirements under the Federal Election Campaign Act, because AIPAC had crossed certain spending thresholds.

The government also asked the judge to approve a settlement with the third defendant, Absolute Poker.

If the defendant pleads not guilty ( or does not plead ) then he is asked to choose which court he wants to be tried in.

The article also served to increase media attention concerning the then-unnamed ambassador ’ s trip and further motivated the defendant to counter Mr. Wilson ’ s assertions, making it more likely that the defendant ’ s disclosures to the press concerning Mr. Wilson ’ s wife were not casual disclosures that he had forgotten by the time he was asked about them by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and before the grand jury.

It was believed that Fajardo asked her associate to ask defendant Borlongan to preterminate her deposit with Urban Bank.

The appellate court will typically be deferential to the lower court's findings of fact ( such as whether a defendant committed a particular act ), unless clearly erroneous, and so will focus on the court's application of the law to those facts ( such as whether the act found by the court to have occurred fits a legal definition at issue ).

Mather's most fatal influence over the trials was in composing the answer to the question of whether or not to allow Spectral evidence, that is, allowing the afflicted girls to claim that some invisible ghost of the defendant was tormenting them, and for this to be considered evidence of witchcraft by the defendant, even if the defendant denied it and professed their own strongly held Christian beliefs.

Similarly, mental health practitioners are restrained from making a judgment on the issue of whether the defendant is or is not insane or what is known as the " ultimate issue ".

* The issue of competency is whether a defendant is able to adequately assist his attorney in preparing a defense, make informed decisions about trial strategy and whether or not to plead guilty or accept a plea agreement.

An interesting innovation was introduced in Russia in the judicial reform of Alexander II: unlike in modern jury trials, jurors decided not only whether the defendant was guilty or not guilty, but they had the third choice: " Guilty, but not to be punished ", since Alexander II believed that justice without morality is wrong.

The defendant could freely choose whether to have a jury or trial by judges, and the decisions of the jury were non-binding.

The question is whether the consequences of an outcome adverse to the defendant could be characterized as punishment.

In the United States, state law determines whether, and under what circumstances, a defendant may plead no contest in state criminal cases.

Note that in the case of hybrid offences, the Crown must make a binding decision as to whether to proceed summarily or by indictment prior to the defendant making his or her plea.

A demurrer is a pleading ( usually filed by a defendant ) which objects to the legal sufficiency of the opponent's pleading ( usually a complaint ) and demands that the court rule immediately about whether the pleading is legally adequate before the party must plead on the merits in response.

The first step is whether the accident is the kind that would usually be caused by negligence, and the second is whether or not the defendant had exclusive control over the instrumentality that caused the accident.

Judge John T. Raulston accelerated the convening of the grand jury and "... all but instructed the grand jury to indict Scopes, despite the meager evidence against him and the widely reported stories questioning whether the willing defendant had ever taught evolution in the classroom.

" There is considerable academic debate about whether vicarious liability is justified on no better basis than the search for a solvent defendant, or whether it is well founded on the theory of efficient risk allocation.

A slightly more limited defence may arise where the defendant has been given a warning, whether expressly to the claimant or by a public notice, sign or otherwise, that there is a danger of injury.

In Powell v. Alabama,, the Supreme Court ruled that “ in a capital case, where the defendant is unable to employ counsel, and is incapable adequately of making his own defense because of ignorance, feeble mindedness, illiteracy, or the like, it is the duty of the court, whether requested or not, to assign counsel for him .” In Johnson v. Zerbst,, the Supreme Court ruled that in all federal cases, counsel would have to be appointed for defendants who were too poor to hire their own.

As stated in Brewer v. Williams,, the right to counsel “ at least that a person is entitled to the help of a lawyer at or after the time that judicial proceedings have been initiated against him, whether by formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment .” Brewer goes on to conclude that once adversary proceeding have begun against a defendant, he has a right to legal representation when the government interrogates him and that when a defendant is arrested, “ arraigned on arrest warrant before a judge ,” and “ committed by the court to confinement ,” “ here can be no doubt that judicial proceedings ha been initiated .”

Even after a decision has been made, it is virtually impossible to know whether a jury has been correct or incorrect in freeing or accusing a defendant of a crime.