Exercise 36. Use one of these words to complete the paragraph
· sentence · criminal · offence · judge · jury
· kidnapping · reward · trial · ransom · arrest
There are many different kinds of crimes. 1)____, taking somebody away and demanding a 2)_____for their return, is a particularly serious 3)_____. The police often offer a 4)_____, which is sometimes quite a substantial sum of money, for information leading to the 5)______ of a 6)_______. It is not always easy for a 7)_____to decide whether the suspect is guilty or not. The 8)______of a suspect often takes days, or even weeks. Having decided on their verdict, the jury do not, however, have to decide how long a 9)_____ to give. That is the job of the 10)_____.
Exercise 37. What’s the crime? Write a word which has the same meaning as the definitions in 1-6. The first letter of each word is given.
1. breaking in to steal something b_______
2. driving more quickly than the limit s_______
3. killing unintentionally m_______
4. killing intentionally m_______
5. attacking and robbing violently m_______
6. the act of stealing t________
Exercise 38. What crimes are these people committing? Discuss in pairs what precautions should be taken so that these crimes can be avoided?
Exercise 39. Fill in the gaps with the correct prepositions. Some may be used more than once.
· under · before · of · in · with · to
1) The accused is being kept………..custody until the trial begins.
2) He was sentenced…………10 years in prison for committing armed robbery.
3) The police have placed 2 men suspected of the kidnapping………arrest.
4) I was shocked to hear that Mark was accused………..fraud.
5) He’s been charged…….a crime he did not commit.
6) The witness appeared………..court and gave his testimony.
7) the accused was kept……..handcuffs throughout the trial.
8) The case was brought………..the court.
9) When the jury reached a verdict……..not guilty, the accused breathed a sigh of relief.
Exercise 40. Solve the crossword.
ACROSS
3. (n.) The legal dissolution of a marriage.
6. (n.) A person who takes away people by force and demands money for their return.
8. (adj.) Not guilty.
9. (n.) A police officer or a private investigator whose function is to obtain information and evidence of illegal activity.
11. (v.) To take the property of another or others without permission or right.
14. (n.) A thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment; in law, the documentary or oral statements and the material objects admissible as testimony in court.
16. (v.) To seize by the authority of the law; to make someone a prisoner.
17. (n.) A claim by an accused person of having been elsewhere when an offense was committed.
DOWN
1. (n.) A correctional institution meant for punishment and/or rehabilitation of offenders.
2. (n.) A public official who hears and decides cases in a law court.
4. (n.) A person who suffers injury, loss, or death as a result of criminal activities or other circumstances.
5. (adj.) Prohibited by law or by official rules.
7. (n.) A penalty inflicted for an offence.
10. (adj.) Relating to the rights of private individuals and legal proceedings concerning these rights as distinguished from criminal proceedings.
12. (n.) The act of putting someone to death as a lawful penalty.
13 (n.) The illegitimate use of force and violence to create fear in order to gain a political or some other objective when innocent people suffer.
15. (v.) To take or receive (property, a right, a title, etc.) by succession or will
Unit 4. Kinds of cases
Exercise 41.Read the following text and write down Russian equivalents for the words and expressions in bold type:
Civil Cases
Civil cases are usually disputes between or among private citizens, corporations, governments, government agencies, and other organizations. Most often, the party bringing the suit is asking for money damages for some wrong that has been done. For example, a tenant may sue a landlord for failure to fix a leaky roof, or a landlord may sue a tenant for failure to pay rent. People who have been injured may sue a person or a company they feel is responsible for the injury.
The party bringing the suit is called the plaintiff; the party being sued is called the defendant. There may be many plaintiffs or many defendants in the same case.
The plaintiff starts the lawsuit by filing a paper called a complaint, in which the case against the defendant is stated. The next paper filed is usually the answer, in which the defendant disputes what the plaintiff has said in the complaint. The defendant may also feel that there has been a wrong committed by the plaintiff, in which case a counterclaim will be filed along with the answer. It is up to the plaintiff to prove the case again the defendant. In each civil case the judge tells the jury the extent to which the plaintiff must prove the case. This is called the plaintiff’s burden of proof, a burden that the plaintiff must meet in order to win. In most civil cases the plaintiff’s burden is to prove the case by a preponderance of evidence, that is, that the plaintiff’s version of what happened in the case is more probably true than not true.
Jury verdicts do not need to be unanimous in civil cases. Only 10 jurors need to agree upon a verdict if there are 12 jurors: five must agree if there are six jurors.
Criminal Cases
A criminal case is brought by the state or by a city or county against a person or persons accused of having committed a crime. The state, city, or county is called the plaintiff; the accused person is called the defendant. The charge against the defendant is called an information or a complaint. The defendant has pleaded not guilty and you should presume the defendant’s innocence throughout the entire trial unless the plaintiff proves the defendant guilty. The plaintiff’s burden of proof is greater in criminal case than in a civil case. In each criminal case you hear the judge will tell you all the elements of the crime that the plaintiff must prove; the plaintiff must prove each of these elements beyond reasonable doubt before the defendant can be found guilty.
In criminal cases the verdict must be unanimous, that is, all jurors must agree that the defendant is guilty in order to overcome the presumption of innocence.
Exercise 42.Find in the text above the English equivalents for the following words and expressions:
1. заявление об обвинении 10. наличие более веских доказательств
2. элемент (состава) преступления 11. возражения ответчика по делу
3. презумпция невиновности 12. ответчик
4. показания (2) 13. встречный иск
5. истец 14. бремя доказывания
6. судебное разбирательство (3) 15. ответственность за ущерб
7. частные лица 16. подать иск /возбудить дело
8. денежная компенсация ущерба 17. заслушать показания
9. единогласное решение присяжных 18. заявить о своей невиновности
Exercise 43. Translate the following definitions into Russian:
DEFENDANT– (crim.) person charged with a crime; (civ.) person or entity against whom a civil action is brought.
ACTION– proceeding taken in court synonymous to case, suit, lawsuit.
PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE–means that the weight of evidence presented by one side is more convincing to the trier of facts than the evidence presented by the opposing side.
PLAINTIFF– the party who begins an action, complains or sues.
COUNTERCLAIM– claim presented by a defendant in opposition to the claim of the plaintiff.
COMPLAINT– (crim.) formal written charge that a person has committed a criminal offence; (civ.) initial document filed by a plaintiff which starts the claim against the defendant.
Exercise 44.Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents:
1) evidence for the plaintiff a) вызывать истца в суд
2) judgment for the plaintiff b) выступать в суде в качестве адвоката истца
3) plaintiff’s claim c) доказательства в пользу истца
4) to appear for the plaintiff d) исковое требование
5) to call the plaintiff e) свидетель, выставленный истцом
6) witness by the plaintiff f) судебное решение в пользу истца
Exercise 45. The word DEFENDANT has the following meanings in Russian:
Ответчик
civil defendant – ответчик
Обвиняемый
bailed defendant – обвиняемый или подсудимый, освобождённый (из-под стражи) под залог
Подсудимый
judgement for the defendant – судебное решение в пользу ответчика
Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents:
1) convicted defendant a) подсудимый, содержащийся под стражей
2) defendant in custody b) осуждённый
3) defendant’s record c) досье подсудимого
4) defendant’s story d) свидетель, выставленный ответчиком
5) defendant’s witness e) версия, выдвинутая обвиняемым
Exercise 46.Fill in the gaps in the text with appropriate words.
trial confessed court custody guilty
convicted enquiry (* 2) sentenced jury execution
arrested innocent charged appeal dropped
pardon judges plea apprehended hunt
suspect tried executed statements denied
The story began when a man called Timothy Evans was (1)……..for the murder of his wife and baby. He was (2)…….with the double murder, but a short time later one of the charges was (3)…..and he was (4)……for the murder of his daughter only. During the (5)……Evans accused the man whose house he had been living in, John Christie, of the crimes, but no attention was paid to him. The (6)…….found Evans (7)……. and he was (8)…….to death. An (9)…….was turned down and he was (10)…….. in 1950.
Some time later, more women’s bodies were discovered in Christie’s house: two, three, four, five, six. John Christie was the police’s chief (11)…….and they started a nation-wide (12)…..for him. He was soon (13)…… Alleged (14)…….by Christie while he was in (15)……cast doubt on the Evans hanging. When he went to (16)……., Christie (17)……that he had murdered Mrs Evans, but in private it was said that he (18)……to that crime. His (19)……of insanity with regard to other murders was rejected and he was (20)….. of killing his wife.
Soon afterwards there was an (21)……into the (22)……of Timothy Evans. The (23)……decided that justice had been done and Evans had been rightly hanged. It was only in 1966 that another (24)……was set up. This time it was decided that Evans had probably been (25)……. And he was given a free (26)…… Better late than never, as they say.