Law Schedule of Classes

NOTE: Course offerings change. Classes offered this semester may not be offered in future semesters.

Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.


231.1 sec. 001 - Criminal Procedure - Adjudication (Spring 2023)

Instructor: Hadar Aviram  
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Units: 4
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person

Meeting:

MW 08:00 AM - 09:50 AM
Location: Law 10
From January 09, 2023
To April 25, 2023

Course Start: January 09, 2023
Course End: April 25, 2023
Class Number: 31932

Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 29
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 35
As of: 08/24 11:03 PM


The course aims to provide you with general knowledge and insights into the principles of American criminal procedure, focusing on the adjudicative process "from bail to jail." Our theoretical focus will be on the tension between the Crime Control model, which advocates swift determinations and final outcomes largely via a plea bargaining system, and the Due Process model, which advocates trial advocacy, cross examination, and opportunities for quality control.

Through these models, we will examine various issues concerning adjudication and sentencing: bail, prosecutorial discretion in charging, preliminary hearings, grand juries, pretrial motions and discovery, joinder and severance, the right to a speedy trial, effective assistance of counsel, adversarial rights, the right to a jury, jury selection and deliberation, sentencing, crimmigration, double jeopardy, appeals, and habeas corpus. We will pay attention to Constitutional rights and limitations, as well as to Federal and California law, when applicable.

The course is taught through a flipped classroom method. You will receive readings and prerecorded lecturettes. During class, we will focus on problem solving and simulations, including plea bargain negotiation, jury selection, closing and sentencing arguments, and motion practice.

While some of the course material in this class is covered on the Bar exam, those students planning to take only one Criminal Procedure course for Bar purposes should take Criminal Procedure - Investigations.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the semester you should be able to:

1. Describe bail mechanisms and assess whether a given decision to detain someone or release him/her on bail is constitutional
2. Explain the factors in, and constraints on, prosecutorial discretion in charging
3. Explain pretrial proceedings in California and Federal law, and assess whether a given defendant was treated constitutionally in a pretrial hearing or in a grand jury hearing
4. Explain the constitutional requirements of discovery and California practices regarding discovery, and assess whether the prosecution has complied with Brady requirements in a given scenario
5. Assess whether plea negotiations in a given case violated the constitution, and explain whether a given conviction obtained through a plea bargain can be attacked, directly or collaterally
6. Analyze possible violations of the right to a jury trial in a given case
7. Analyze possible violations of the right to confront witnesses in a given case
8. Describe the general sentencing scheme in a typical case under Federal law and under California law
9. Predict the immigration consequences of criminal convictions
10. Describe the appellate process and the Federal Habeas process
11. Assess which paths are open to a given defendant in terms of post-conviction remedies

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Exam Notes: (F) In-class final exam
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Exam Length: 3 hours
Course Category: Criminal Law
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
Race and Law
Social Justice and Public Interest

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