California defendants who have been accused of a crime are entitled to receive a fair trial. A fair trial has been a concept that is commonly talked about in the criminal justice system throughout the country. However, if you’re asked to define what a fair trial is, you may just find yourself at a lack of words.
Understanding some of your rights
While the Bill of Rights does not specifically state the words ‘fair trial‘, it does provide a number of rights that establish this type of trial. Anyone who is providing criminal defense for their case has four main rights that, when put together, provide them with a fair trial.
The first of these rights is the right to an impartial jury. There should be no bias of any jury members for any case. Second, every citizen has the right to due process of law. They may call witnesses to testify during the hearing. And each citizen is entitled to their own legal counsel. All of these rights must be given to every accused citizen, or their trial will be deemed unfair.
What happens when a trial is deemed unfair?
If a person believes that they were not granted the rights above for their trial, they can appeal the court’s decision. If successful, the lower court’s decision will be overruled, and the case might be remanded for a new trial.
One thing that sets the United States apart from other countries is that every citizen is entitled to a fair trial when accused of a crime. The four rights that we went over above are the basic rights that entitle a citizen to a fair trial. In the event that any one of those rights was violated, the accused can appeal the result.