Which of the following judges in Texas is NOT required to be a lawyer?

1

Marks: 2

Which of the following judges in Texas is NOT required to be a lawyer?

Choose one answer.

	a. District court judge.
	b. County judge (sitting on the constitutional county court)
	c. Judge on one of the 14 regional courts of appeals
	d. A member of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
	e. County-court-at-law judge.

Question2

Marks: 2

In a purely hypothetical situation, I shoot my wife to death in our home in Sugar Land after thinking about it and planning it for several weeks. I took my .357 Magnum Smith&Wesson, loaded it with magnum load, hollow-point bullets, and emptied all six rounds into her (a rather brutal murder). Based on that information, can I be sentenced to death for capital murder in Texas?

Choose one answer.

	a. Yes, because I murdered my wife
	b. No, because she was not a police officer or firefighter on duty; nor, before killing her, did I kidnap her, rob her, sexually assault her, commit arson to kill her, or kill my neighbor who walked into the house just after I murdered my wife (no lethal injection for me!)
	c. Yes, because it was a particularly heinous and premeditated murder
	d. Yes, because I killed her with a gun
	e. Yes, simply because I committed murder

Question3

Marks: 2

The legislature has divided Texas into 14 state court of appeals districts and established a court of appeals in every district. These courts hear what kind of appeals?

Choose one answer.

	a. Both civil and criminal case appeals
	b. Civil appeals only in the odd numbered courts of appeals (e.g., First, Third, Fifth, etc.)
	c. Capital punishment and other criminal appeals
	d. Appeals from state district courts only
	e. Both state court and federal court appeals that occured in state of federal courts within Texas

Question4

Marks: 2

Members of the Texas Supreme Court are

Choose one answer.

	a. elected to the bench by the Texas Senate in a vote of the full Senate under the authority of their advice and consent power.
	b. always appointed to the bench by the president of the United States.
	c. always appointed to the bench by the governor of Texas.
	d. appointed for a life term by a vote of the plural executive.
	e. normally elected to the bench by the voters of Texas.

Question5

Marks: 2

The person who brings the allegations or changes against another in a trial is called the

Choose one answer.

	a. witness.
	b. plaintiff.
	c. judge.
	d. appellant.
	e. defendant.

Question6

Marks: 2

If a person is convicted of the death penalty in Texas, his conviction is automatically appealed to the

Choose one answer.

	a. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
	b. United States Supreme Court.
	c. Texas Supreme Court
	d. Texas court of appeals for the region in which the capital murder case was held.
	e. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Question7

Marks: 2

In Texas, the trial court which hears felony criminal cases is

Choose one answer.

	a. municipal court.
	b. the justice of the peace court.
	c. the county commissioners court.
	d. the constitutional county court or a county court-at-law.
	e. the district court.

Question8

Marks: 2

The method of judicial selection (a model not used by Texas) in which a nominating committee appointed by the governor nominates candidates for a judicial vacancy, the governor then appoints one for a term of office and during the next general election he/she runs unopposed on a nonpartisan ballot is called

Choose one answer.

	a. the Missouri Compromise.
	b. the Texas Plan.
	c. the California Plan.
	d. the Cafeteria Plan.
	e. the Missouri Plan

Question9

Marks: 2

Texas and one other state in the U.S. have bifurcated high courts. What is the other state?

Choose one answer.

	a. Nebraska
	b. Mississippi
	c. Louisiana
	d. New York
	e. Oklahoma

Question10

Marks: 2

The process of selecting a trial jury, known as voir dire, is

Choose one answer.

	a. handled exclusively and totally by the trial judge.
	b. handled by judges from the appellate court branch of the state’s judicial system.
	c. used only in cases involving federal questions.
	d. used only when picking juries for appellate cases.
	e. a process of elimination, essentially in that after challenges have removed potential juries from the jury panel the first 12 remaining are selected to serve on the jury.

Question11

Marks: 2

Your neighbor borrowed your new lawn mower and used it to trim his rock garden thus destroying it. Your lawn mower which cost you $100 at Home Depot. Your neighbor refuses to pay for it. You have to sue him in a Texas court to be compensated for your loss. What court will you go to?

Choose one answer.

	a. A court of appeals
	b. A justice-of-the-peace court
	c. The Texas Supreme Court
	d. A probate court
	e. District court

Question12

Marks: 2

A commonly used form of adternative dispute resolution used in the Texas judicial system is known as

Choose one answer.

	a. exclusive jurisdiction.
	b. adjudication.
	c. bifurcation.
	d. partisan election.
	e. mediation.

Question13

Marks: 2

County courts in Texas, both statutory and constitutional, can handle what type of criminal cases?

Choose one answer.

	a. misdemeanors, such as DWI cases
	b. felonies, such as capital murders
	c. either misdemeanors or felonies
	d. capital murder cases
	e. cases involving federal questions

Question14

Marks: 2

Most district courts in Texas are authorized to try

Choose one answer.

	a. federal cases.
	b. both civil and criminal cases.
	c. criminal cases only.
	d. civil cases only.
	e. probate cases.

Question15

Marks: 2

Who writes the “charge to the jury?”

Choose one answer.

	a. The district clerk
	b. The foreperson of the trial jury
	c. The defense attorney
	d. The grand jury foreperson
	e. The trial judge

Question16

Marks: 2

The Texas legislature has given special jurisdiction to certain courts in proceedings involving the estates of deceedents. The type of law dealing with these matters is known as

Choose one answer.

	a. administrative law.
	b. tort law.
	c. small claims law.
	d. contract law.
	e. probate law.

Question17

Marks: 2

A common form of alternative dispute resolution used in Texas is called

Choose one answer.

	a. orchestration.
	b. jury deliberation.
	c. jury nullification.
	d. litigation.
	e. mediation.

Question18

Marks: 2

Which of the following areas of law do Texas courts NOT consider regardless of their jurisdiction?

Choose one answer.

	a. Regulations adopted by state agencies
	b. Judge-made common law
	c. Provisions of the Texas Constitution
	d. Statutes enacted by the Texas legislature
	e. Matters pertaining federal law when the incident to be adjudicated occurs within Texas borders

Question19

Marks: 2

In Texas, judges are usually

Choose one answer.

	a. all appointed to the bench by the Governor.
	b. elected to the bench by the voters.
	c. appointed to the bench by the President with the approval of the Senate.
	d. approved by the voters after being appointed to the bench by a committee of the local Bar.
	e. appointed to the bench under the Missouri Plan.

Question20

Marks: 2

A proceeding in a court of last resort (made up solely of judges, no juries) where a lower court’s decision is being reviewed for errors made in the application of the law is called a/an

Choose one answer.

	a. appeal.
	b. indictment.
	c. remand
	d. trial.
	e. judicial review.

Question21

Marks: 2

In a civil trial in a state district court in Texas, how many jurors does it take to decide the outcome of the case?

Choose one answer.

	a. a unanimous vote of the 12
	b. a vote of no less than 6
	c. None because all verdicts are determined by trial judges in civil district courts in Texas
	d. a vote of 7 or more of the 12
	e. a vote of 10 out of the 12

Question22

Marks: 2

Probate law deals with

Choose one answer.

	a. issues of patent and copyrights.
	b. criminal issues.
	c. personal injury matters.
	d. the disposition of a deceased person’s property and wishes (i.e., wills and estates).
	e. divorce and custody issues.

Question23

Marks: 2

The preliminary examination which the judge and attorneys make in a trial of prospective jurors to determine their qualification and suitability to serve as jurors for the trial jury is called

Choose one answer.

	a. stare decisis.
	b. the charge to the jury.
	c. cross-examination.
	d. voir dire.
	e. direct examination.

Question24

Marks: 2

The role of an appellate court is to

Choose one answer.

	a. to listen to and weigh the opinions and rulings from the appellate jury selected to hear the case in the appellate court.
	b. look for errors made in the application of the law by a lower court based upon the written record provided by the lower court..
	c. to make sure that a criminal defendant has every possible chance in every situation no matter what the circumstances to prove his innocence.
	d. examine new evidence presented to it.
	e. study new or unpresented evidence which could help those the judges believe to be truly innocent.

Question25

Marks: 2

State and county judges in Texas

Choose one answer.

	a. serve for life.
	b. are all appointed by the governor.
	c. normally are elected to the bench by the voters in their jurisdiction in partisan elections.
	d. are all selected by a panel created by the Texas Supreme Court.
	e. are selected by the Texas legislature.

26

Marks: 2

You’ve lost in your trial. You’ve been convicted of felony auto theft in state district court in Houston. You’ve appealed to the First Court of Appeals in Houston and lost in that court also. So, you plan to appeal to one of Texas’ highest courts of appeals. Where are you going to file your appeal?

Choose one answer.

	a. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
	b. you can appeal your case no further since you lost in the intermediate appellate court level
	c. Texas Supreme Court
	d. to the nearest federal district court
	e. either the Texas Supreme Court or Court of Criminal Appeals, whichever has room on its docket

Question27

Marks: 2

A body empanelled by a district judge to sit and consider felony criminal cases presented by the prosecutor for possible indictment and then trial in a district court in a given jurisdiction is known as a

Choose one answer.

	a. hung jury.
	b. petit jury.
	c. tryer of fact.
	d. grand jury.
	e. trial jury.

Question28

Marks: 2

County courts created by the Texas Legislature are know as county-courts-at-law or

Choose one answer.

	a. justice of the peace courts.
	b. administrative courts.
	c. statutory county courts.
	d. common law courts.
	e. constitutional county courts.

Question29

Marks: 2

How many constitutional county courts are there in Texas?

Choose one answer.

	a. 200
	b. 435
	c. 254
	d. 80
	e. 31

Question30

Marks: 2

Municipal courts are operated by

Choose one answer.

	a. the Supreme Court of Texas.
	b. cities.
	c. counties.
	d. appellate jurisdictions.
	e. the federal government.

Question31

Marks: 2

A serious crime such as murder, kidnapping, sexual assault or burglary is called a

Choose one answer.

	a. capital offense.
	b. probate matter.
	c. felony.
	d. misdemeanor.
	e. statutory crime.

Question32

Marks: 2

There are never any juries in a

Choose one answer.

	a. county court-at-law.
	b. court of appellate jurisdiction.
	c. federal trial court.
	d. court of original jurisdiction.
	e. state trial court.

Question33

Marks: 2

When a criminal trial jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict, what declaration will the trial judge issue?

Choose one answer.

	a. Mistrial (for a “hung jury”)
	b. Remand
	c. Voir dire
	d. JNOV (judgment notwithstanding the verdict)
	e. Replevin

Question34

Marks: 2

How many intermediate level appellate courts called Courts of Appeals are there in Texas in the state judicial system?

Choose one answer.

	a. 14
	b. 10
	c. two
	d. 12
	e. 13

Question35

Marks: 2

Only two states have two courts at the state supreme level (also known as a “bifurcated system”), Oklahoma and

Choose one answer.

	a. Florida.
	b. Arkansas.
	c. Missouri.
	d. Texas.
	e. Louisiana.

Question36

Marks: 2

Tort cases are handled in

Choose one answer.

	a.bifurcated courts only.
	b.municipal courts only.
	c. civil courts only.
	d. criminal courts only.
	e. federal courts only.

Question37

Marks: 2

When, if ever, does the Governor of Texas appoint judges?

Choose one answer.

	a. The governor lacks the power to appoint Texas judges under any circumstance.
	b. All Texas judges are appointed by the governor.
	c. The governor may appoint judges to federal district courts that are seated in Texas only.
	d. The governor may appoint a judge to serve out an unexpired term for any state court where a vacancy is created by death or resignation.
	e. The governor appoints only the judges of the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals.

Question38

Marks: 2

Law that defines behavior which is against the public order and provides for punishment in the form of deprivation of life or personal freedoms is called

Choose one answer.

	a. statutory law.
	b. constitutional law.
	c. civil law.
	d. common law.
	e. criminal law

Question39

Marks: 2

To file a case in a civil court in Texas, the plaintiff must first file a(n)____________ with the court.

Choose one answer.

	a. petition.
	b. warrant.
	c. writ.
	d. answer.
	e. indictment

Question40

Marks: 2

The state courts of Texas adjudicate what types of matters?

Choose one answer.

	a. Civil law matters only
	b. Matters of federal law
	c. Criminal law matters only
	d. Matters of Texas law only
	e. Matters of federal or Texas law

Question41

Marks: 2

A serious crime which can be punished by fine and confinement in prison is called a

Choose one answer.

	a. probate matter.
	b. tort.
	c. misdemeanor.
	d. criminal violation.
	e. felony.

Question42

Marks: 2

Which of the following bodies are involved in regulating the state’s lawyers in Texas?

Choose one answer.

	a. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Education
	b. The Texas Supreme Court solely
	c. The State Bar of Texas solely
	d. Both the State Bar of Texas and the Texas Supreme Court
	e. The Texas Courts of Appeals

Question43

Marks: 2

The group of questions given by a judge to a trial jury in a civil case to establish facts is called

Choose one answer.

	a. the charge to the jury.
	b. an information.
	c. special questions.
	d. the petition.
	e. an indictment.

Question44

Marks: 2

The decision rendered by the jury in a trial court is called the

Choose one answer.

	a. tryer of the fact.
	b. charge to the jury.
	c. appeal.
	d. verdict.
	e. brief.

Question45

Marks: 2

Appellate courts

Choose one answer.

	a. often seat juries to listen to new evidence being presented in criminal cases on appeal to their courts.
	b. will, on occasion, seat juries, but only when dealing with cases and controversies dealing with federal questions.
	c. are made up of judges only.
	d. seat a jury in criminal cases but never in civil matters.
	e. are courts exclusively of original jurisdiction and, hence, seat juries as a matter of court to make determinations of fact in reaching verdicts.

	e. the U.S. Constitution.