Lower courts in the usa

The lowest courts in the federal system are the District Courts with about two hundred district judges. These courts handle both civil and criminal cases that come under the jurisdiction of federal laws. By the Constitution they are required to give a jury trial in all except civil cases involving less than twenty dollars.

The district courts have original jurisdiction in all the cases. Criminal cases are tried by a judge sitting with a jury whose duty is to hear the evidence, the speeches of prosecuting and defending counsels and the speech of a judge.

Then the jury must reach a unanimous decision as to whether the accused is guilty or not of the crime he is charged with. A trial jury must consist of twelve persons.

Each state of the USA has at least one district court. And each court has from one to twenty-four judges.

Besides all the states have their own courts, including a Supreme Court, superior courts and local courts. In most sates the lowest courts are the magistrate or police courts.

The judge or magistrate of the police court can send a drunk to jail for thirty days, or fine a motorist for speeding, without the aid of jury. The magistrate may also have authority to receive a man accused of murder and decide whether to hold him for trial in a higher court.

Words and expressions:

• to handle – вести, работать с

• jurisdiction– отправление правосудия

• to require/requirement – требовать / требование

• to try/trial – судить / суд

• to prosecute – обвинять, преследовать судебным порядком

• prosecuting /defending counsel – обвинение / защита

Exercise 1. Use correct articles and translate the sentences.

1. ……lowest courts in……..federal system of……..USA are………District Courts.

2. They handle various cases that come under………jurisdiction of ………..federal laws.

3. ……..USA is ………….federal republic.

4. ……….Constitution says in what cases……….district courts are required to give……..jury trial.

5. Criminal cases are usually tried by ……..judge and ……..jury.

6. ………jury must reach………..unanimous decision as to whether ………accused is guilty or not.

Attacker Shoots at Moscow Kindergarten

An unidentified assailant fired gunshots the windows of a Moscow kindergarten on Friday morning , the second attack on the facility this month , Ren-TV reported , citing the kindergarten staff.

Kindergarten No.1051 , on Golubinskaya Ulitsa in southwestern Moscow , was struck with a barrage of rifle fire aimed at the windows.The attack was strikingly similar to another shooting on May 9 , in which an 11-year-old boy was severely wounded by gunfire as he walked near the kindergarten.

No one was injured in the Friday shooting.

On Friday , when bullets started shattering the windows of a room with toddlers inside , most children were quickly evacuated.

But matters were more complicated with the children who had not yet learned to walk , said Valentina Kozineva , the director of the kindergarten.”Eventually , we evacuated them to a safe place where there was no shooting” , she told Ren-TV.

The assailant escaped , and police investigators have found no suspects in either shooting.

1.Answer the questions to the text

1) Where did the event happen?

2) Where did the shooting take place?

3) Was it the first or the second attack this month?

4) Was the criminal identified?

5) Where did the information come from?

6) Where is the kindergarten located?

7) When did the first attack happen?

8) Who was injured?

9) Was anybody injured in the second attack?

10) Were all the children evacuated?

11) Why was the situation complicated?

12) Did the police find any suspects?

2. Find the English equivalents for the following phrases in the text.

• неустановленный налетчик

• открыть огонь

• шквал выстрелов

• похожий на

• быть серьезно раненым

• пострадать

• быть эвакуированным

• стрельба

• сбежать

• следователь

• найти подозреваемых

3. Which statements are true according to the text.

1) The police found some suspects to the case.

2) No children were injured in the shooting.

3) All the children were quickly evacuated.

4) It was the first attack on the facility.

5) A 11-year-old boy was severely wounded.

6) There were no toddlers inside.

7) All the children in the kindergarten could walk.

4. Translate the sentences into English.

1) Kто-либо пострадал в этом ДТП?

2) Большинство людей эвакуировали в безопасное место.

3) Полиция нашла двух подозреваемых в ограблении банка.

4) Вчера неустановленный преступник открыл стрельбу в магазине.

5) Это уже второе нападение на пожилых людей за эту неделю.

1.Read and translate the newspaper text.Do you know anything about the events described?

Tel Aviv court charges Gaidamak

The Moscow Times,October 2009

A Tel Aviv court charged Russian-Israeli tycoon Arkady Gaidamak with money laundering and fraud Thursday , accusing him of laundering $173 million with help from senior executives at Bank Hapoalin , Israel’s second-largest bank.

Gaidamak and bank officials are accused of ”utilizing the Israeli banking system for the purpose of fraud and money laundering”,the court said in a statement.The bank’s senior executives are charged with using Hapoalim’s reputation to help Gaidamak launder the money.Senior officials at Poalim Trust,the bank’s subsidiary, are also accused of conspiring to act as middlemen in the illegal purchase of a Dutch company using $13.2 million of Gaidamak’s money,presenting it as their own.Gaidamak,who left Israel for Moscow late last year and received Russian citizenship in early 2009,said he would return to Israel to fight the charges.”Arkady Gaidamak has asked me to announce that he intends to return to Israel for his trial in order to show that there is no substance to the charge and to prove that he is being wrong- fully persecuted,”Gaidamak’s lawyer,David Libai,said in a statement.Gaidamak is also wanted in France,where he faces charges of trafficking arms to Angola during that country’s civil war in the early 1990s,when the businessman is said to have made the bulk of his fortune.

2.Find English equivalents to these expressions.

-обвинить в

-отмывание денег

-мошенничество

-занимающие высокий пост чиновники(должностные лица)

-филиал компании

-действовать как посредник

-незаконное приобретение

-получить гражданство

-преследуемый ошибочно

-разыскиваться

-торговля оружием

-нажить состояние

3.Answer the questions.

1) Where did the court charge Gaidamak?

2) What was he charged with?

3) What amount of money is mentioned in the text?

4) How did Gaidamak manage to launder the money?

5) Who is also charged?

6) What was purchased illegally?

7) How much was the deal?

8) When did Gaidamak receive Russian citizenship?

9) Why is Gaidamak wanted in France?

4.TranslateintoEnglish.

1) Часто отмывание денег происходит в оффшорных зонах.

2) Ходорковского обвиняли в отмывании денег,не так ли?Нет,в основном он обвиняется в уклонении от уплаты налогов(taxevasion).

3) Какое наказание(punishment) за мошенничество?

4) Должностные лица часто выступают с официальными заявлениями.

5) Слушается дело о незаконном приобретении компании и подделке документов.

6) Газета сообщает,что разыскивается опасный преступник за совершение разбойного нападения.

7) Торговля оружием наказывается сроком лишения свободы.

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