Defendants' Rights During a Court Trial: The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights promises fair treatment and constitutional rights for criminal defendants.
There are two fundamental aspects of the U.S. criminal justice system: The presumption that the defendant is innocent, and the burden on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. (See Common Defenses to Criminal Charges.) But criminal defendants have other rights, too, including the rights to:
Here we explore some of the other hallmarks of basic criminal procedure.
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that a defendant cannot "be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." In short, the defendant cannot be forced to speak. If the defendant chooses to remain silent, the prosecutor cannot call the defendant as a witness, nor can a judge or defense attorney force the defendant to testify. (A defendant may, however, be forced to testify as a witness in a civil case.)
The "confrontation clause" of the Sixth Amendment gives defendants the right to "be confronted by the witnesses against" them. This gives defendants the right to cross-examine witnesses -- that is, the right to require the witnesses to come to court, "look the defendant in the eye," and subject themselves to questioning by the defense. The Sixth Amendment forbids prosecutors from proving a defendant's guilt with written statements from absent witnesses, except for limited exceptions.
| Special Confrontation Rules for Child Sexual Assault Cases |
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In recent years, legislators have been concerned about defendants who escape punishment for sexually molesting young children because the children were afraid to testify in the defendant's presence. To address this problem, many states have enacted special rules that authorize judges -- in certain situations -- to allow children to testify via closed circuit television. The defendant can see the child on a television monitor, but the child cannot see the defendant. The defense attorney can be personally present where the child is testifying, and can cross-examine the child.
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