You Have the Right to a Fair Trial
Video Transcribed: Hello, I’m Stuart Ericson, a Wagoner lawyer. We’re kind of going through some of the Constitutional rights found in the Bill of Rights that apply to us, US citizens. We’re going to go over the Sixth Amendment right in the Bill of Rights, Rights to a Fair Trial. I will go ahead and read that because it is very important.
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district, wherein the crime shall have been committed. Which district shall have been previously ascertained by law and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.”
So a lot of rights are listed there in the Sixth Amendment. Of course, a speedy trial is one. So you cannot be charged with a crime and just have delay after delay and be charged and be tried for this crime years in the future. You have a right to have a speedy trial. Now there’s no set timeframe for that, it’s factors. Are there delays? What was the reason for the delays? Did the defendant agree to any of the delays? Is the passage of time caused by any delays from the state prejudicial to the defendant? In other words, is it made it harder for the defendant, the accused, to defend themselves based upon all these delays? So those are all factors on the case by case basis. And of course, if there is a violation of speedy trial, that case will be dismissed.
The other thing you heard here is a public trial. There are not going to be any secret trials in America. It is going to be public, open to the public out in the light of day. So again, our courtrooms are public courtrooms. Of course, there are always a few exceptions to that, but by and large, a public trial in the location in which the crime occurred. Of course, that’s the venue and jurisdiction. For a crime committed in Arkansas, you’re not going to be tried in Oklahoma. It’s going to be in the locale where the crime was committed.
Again, the allegations or the charges will be told to you. So you know, what are you charged with? What do I need to defend? If you’re not told what you’re charged with, how would you know what to defend? So that’s a very important right found in the Sixth Amendment. Witnesses called against you. Obviously, if there are charges filed against you, the state has to produce evidence. And generally, that is going to come through witnesses who have to testify and be subject to cross-examination. And again, with the assistance of counsel, you have a right to have an attorney represent you who would know how to cross-examine witnesses. And also, in the Sixth Amendment, you heard that the accused has a right to call their own witnesses. And basically where it says compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor. That means the right to issue subpoenas and have people show up and testify in your defense.
Because again, that’s what a fair trial is all about, having the assistance of counsel, having witnesses have to come forward under oath to testify against you, you get to cross-examine them to see, to test them. Are they lying? Are they telling the truth? Are they biased? All those things are tested. You can call your own witnesses. You have a right to testify yourself. But of course, under the Fifth Amendment, you do not have to testify. So these are very important rights that every person accused of a crime has in their favor and should be exercised.
So if you have any questions, reach out to me, an Oklahoma defense lawyer, at stuartericson@wagonerlawyer.com.
