NCJ Number
119335
Date Published
1989
Length
65 pages
Annotation
This discussion of 1988 State and Federal judicial decisions dealing with pretrial proceedings in criminal cases is directed mainly to lawyers and judges.
Abstract
Individual decisions dealt with the authority of special prosecutors, the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, and prosecutorial misconduct. Additional decisions focused on whether the Federal Bail Reform Act of 1984 violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, pretrial detention or release, the release of a defendant pending resentencing, and excessive bail. Other cases related to situations in which a court is required to conduct an inquiry into the defendant's mental capacity, the use of retrospective competency proceeding, the forcible administration of psychotropic drugs to a defendant, and other issues related to competency. Further cases related to the joinder of two offenses of the same or similar character, severance, disclosure, discovery rules and laws, and the right to a speedy trial. 297 footnotes.