Criminal Law
| JURISDICTION OVER VICTIMLESS CRIMES THAT ARE COMMITTED ON NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATIONS |
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| When a criminal offense is committed on a Native American reservation, jurisdiction over the offense will depend upon whether the victim of the offense is a Native American or a non-Native American. If the victim of the offense is a Native American, either the federal government or a tribal court will generally assume jurisdiction over the offense. If the victim of the offense is a non-Native American, the state in which the reservation is located will generally assume jurisdiction over the offense.
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| PROBATION |
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| Probation is a type of sentencing by which a trial court suspends the imposition of imprisonment and releases a defendant into the community based upon certain conditions. Probation is an alternative to imprisonment. Probation is similar to parole because it grants freedom from incarceration.
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| MURDER |
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| A person commits the offense of murder when he or she intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual or when he or she intends to cause serious bodily injury to an individual and commits an act that causes the death of the individual. More... |
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| The Introduction of Polygraphs or other Lie Detector Tests at Trial and Other Uses of the Polygraph |
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| Generally, courts in most jurisdictions do not admit the results of polygraph or other lie detector examinations. Most courts find such results quite unreliable and untrustworthy. There are a number of states that will admit polygraph or lie detector tests results into evidence if both the prosecution and defendant agree that the test results will be admitted. More... |
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| RECORDS ON APPEAL |
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| In order for an appellant to prosecute an appeal, a record of a trial court's proceedings must be filed with an appellate court. The reason for the trial court's record is that the appellate court does not conduct an evidentiary hearing during an appeal. It does not take testimony or admit evidence. Its role is to examine the trial court's proceedings in accordance with the record in order to determine whether the trial court committed any errors. More... |
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