Extended Degree Program
Lecture Notes

Approximate Time:

6 hours.

Key Points

A. The American Courts

An environmental health specialist, whether employed in a traditional health department or in an environmental protection agency or a department of labor, should know each of the courts which may exercise jurisdiction in a legal action brought by his/her agency, or brought by another party against the him/her. In some cases the court will be proscribed by statute, such as in the case of the Toxic Substances Control Act (PL 94-469) which specifically describes the federal courts in which an action may be brought. In other cases, the determination may depend upon whether the action is a civil action or a criminal action, on whether a criminal action is a felony or a misdemeanor, or on the legal grounds used to bring the action. Occasionally, an action may be initiated in any one of several courts. Where there is a choice of courts, the agency's legal counsel will make the determination as to the proper place to bring an action.
Some courts are termed trial courts and other are called appellate courts. In some cases the same court may serve as a trial court for some proceedings and as an appellate court for others. For any given proceeding it is important to be in the right court. Generally, a trial court may review both the facts and the law in the case, while an appellate court restricts its review to errors of law which were applied in the original hearing.

Depending upon these considerations, the environmental health specialists may find themselves in a federal court, a state court or a municipal court. Therefore, they must be familiar with the basic structure and procedures used by each of the court system in which they may be come involved.

1. Federal Courts: The U.S. provides for the establishment of a Supreme Court and such inferior courts as the Congress shall deem necessary. Over the past two hundred years the federal judicial system expanded to include a bewildering variety of courts, including specialized courts such as the court of claims, tax courts, patent courts and customs courts. However, the general courts consist of the:

• The U.S. Supreme Court - the ultimate appellate court of the nation;
• 11 Circuit Courts of Appeal; and,
• 89 District Courts (trial courts) which hear only cases involving federal law.

There are five additional U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, which have both federal and local jurisdiction.

2. State Courts: All state judicial systems have certain elements in common. These are the existence of a final appellate court, general jurisdictional trial courts, and a number of local courts of limited jurisdiction. Most state judicial systems also have intermediate appellate courts, which handle appeals from trial courts, to relieve the burden on the state supreme court. The description of the state court system in Washington is typical of that found in most states.
’Ä¢ Washington Supreme Court
’Ä¢ Appellate Courts
’Ä¢ Courts of original jurisdiction

3. Local Courts: Supplementary reading #31 (by the U.S. Dept. of Justice), which is one of the assigned readings for this lesson, will not only provide you with a brief description of the local courts, it also emphasizes the importance of these courts in handling the bulk of the day to day hearings in the U.S. court systems.

• Municipal Courts
• Justices of the Peace
  

B. Court Procedures

Grad states that when a defendant pleads "Not Guilty" a trial must be held. If the complaining witness is in court, and both the prosecution and defense are ready, a trial may be held immediately following the pleading stage. If the complaining witness, usually the agency investigator, is not in the courtroom, or if either the defendant or the prosecution needs additional time, a future trial date is then set by the court, at which time both sides must be ready to proceed.
There are a number of specific procedural steps and maneuvers involved in any court trial. In these matters environmental health practitioners must rely on the advice and consultation of their attorney. There is no need for the most practitioners to become more knowledgeable about the ins and outs of courtroom procedures than to have a general understanding of the the sequence of events and of what will be required of them in terms of the testimony and the evidence which they will present.

1. Rules of Testimony: The responsibility of the practitioner as a witness is to tell the facts. They should be told in such a way that the judge and/or jury can understand them and draw the conclusions from them that you intend. There are a number of specific policies embodied in the "rules of testimony". Some of these derive from the "rules of evidence" discussed below. Others should be discussed with your legal counsel before the trial. Make sure you know what he/she expects of you. The "do's and don'ts" discussed in the reading assignment for this lesson should be helpful.

2. Rules of Evidence: The environmental health practitioner needs competent legal advice regarding the specifics of what constitutes evidence, what determines whether evidence is valid and may be presented in court, and on the manner in which evidence may be presented. However, since the completeness and validity of evidence may depend on the actions of the investigators and other agency personnel involved weeks, if not months and years, before the trial, the practitioner needs to be aware of the general legal requirements regarding the collection, retention and presentation of evidence.

a. Material and Relevant - .The whole evidence must be material and relevant. The definitions of these terms are important and you should understand them as they are used in this context. It is also important to note that all evidence must be authenticated. This applies equally to pictures, laboratory results, reports and other parts of the case record.

b. Hearsay - Hearsay is testimony by one person regarding what another person saw or said. As a general rule, hearsay is excluded at a trial. However, exactly what is included as hearsay or how strictly hearsay rules are adhered to, may vary depending upon the nature of the hearing. For instance, the requirements regarding hearsay are not as stringent in the administrative hearing as they are in a formal court trial. Moreover, there are a number of exceptions to the hearsay requirement.

1) Official and Business Records
2) An important exception is when a sanitarian is permitted to repeat another person's statement in court in order to prove something other than the truth of the statement itself. This might occur to develop an experiential chart of a food poisoning outbreak to explain the reason why an inspection was made, or to demonstrate that many neighbors were complaining about a neighborhood nuisance.

3. Proof: Related to the concerns regarding the relevancy of evidence, are those concern-ing its completeness or sufficiency.

a. Burden of Proof. In any court trial the burden of proof lies with the party bringing the suit, i.e., he/she must prove to the satisfaction of the court that the facts in the case are as claimed.

b. Degree of Proof. Courts use several different standards or tests to determine whether a party has "proved" his/her case. The standards vary in the amount or degree of proof required to be presented. The appropriate standard used by the court are either stipulated by or inferred from the statute governing the case.

1) Substantial evidence
2) Preponderance of the evidence
3) Clear and convincing evidence

Progress Assessment Exercise

Download the following Microsoft Word file and answer the questions. Your responses should be brief, yet contain sufficient depth to demonstrate your understanding of the issues and/or concepts involved. All progress assessment exercises should be typewritten, well organized and clearly presented. You will be evaluated on the effectiveness and organization of your responses as well as on the substance of the content. When you have finished, email your answers to the instructor. You may also send them by US mail to:

Mr. Charles D. Treser
Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences
University of Washington
Campus Box 357234
Seattle, WA 98195-7234

Exercise No. 11

When you have finished you may proceed to Lesson 12 Judicial Structure and Process.