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本帖最后由 卡布奇诺 于 2010-11-30 20:21 编辑
Law and oder
Definition
to arrest V.--if the police arrest someone, they take them away to ask them about a crime which they might have committed.
to accuse V.--to say that someone has done something morally wrong, illegal or unkind.
be sentenced to V.--to be given a punishment by a judge.
evidence N. --one or more reasons for believing that something is or is not true.
witness N. --a person in a law court who states what they know about a legal case or a particular person.
jury N. --a group of people who have been chosen to listen to all the facts in a trial in a law court and to decide whether a person is guilty or not guilty, or whether a claim has been proved.
case N. --a problem, a series of events or a person being dealt with by police, doctors, lawyers, etc.
guilty adj.--responsible for breaking a law.
innocent adj.--(of a person) not guilty of a particular crime.
rob V. -- to take money or property illegally from a place, organization or person, often using violence.
robbery N. --the crime of stealing from somewhere or someone.
burgle V. --to illegally enter a building and steal things.
burglary N. --the crime of illegally entering a building and stealing things.
murder N. --the crime of intentionally killing a person.
commit V. --to do something illegal or something that is considered wrong.
prison N. --a building where criminals are forced to live as a punishment.
pay a fine -- the maximum penalty for the offence is a USD1000fine.
community service -- work that people do to help other people without payment, and which young criminals whose crime was not serious enough for them to be put in prison are sometimes orderd to do.
probation -- a period of time when a criminal must behave well and not commit any more crimes in order to avoid being sent to prison.
corporal punishment--the physical punishment of people by caning and flogging.
capital punishment --punishment by death.
reading part
The US Constitution grants citizens the right to trial by a jury of your peers. In other words, it grants citizens the right to be judged by ordinary people rather than by lawyers or judges. The way the system works is that all adults who register to vote become members of the potentical jury pool. When a jury is needed for a trial, summons are sent out to a number of potential jurors to appear at the court house at a specific time.
At this time the court will call about 18 people to sit in the jury box and they are interviewed to find out if they have any biases. The goal is to find out if they will be fair and impartial jurors. During this process, each side (the prosecution and the defense) are allowed to make a couple of challenges. These challenges can cause a juror to be rejected if the prosecution or defense believes the juror won't give a fair verdict. During this process, jurors can also be rejected for such things as having a relationship with the accused or witness that could prejudice their judgment.
Once a jury of 12 is chosen, the testimony part of the trial begins. The prosecution and defense both call witnesses and ask them questions--the answers the witnesses give are called "testimony". Also, the judge will advise the jury about laws. Once both sides have presented their cases, the jury then goes into deliberations.
During the deliberations, the jury will decide whether the person is guilty or innocent of the crimes charged. If all 12 jurors agree on a verdict, the the trial ends based on their verdict. If even 1juror disagrees then there is a "hung jury" which results in a mistrial. At that point the prosecution has to decide whether to retry the case or dismiss the charges.
During the course of the case, the jury is instructed to not discuss the case with anyone, and they are not allowed to seek information on their own. In criminal cases, the jury must be convinced beyound a reasonable doubt. This does not mean the jury has no doubts, just that they think the evidence is strong enough to convice a reaonable person that the accused is guilty of their crimes. |
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