  Mystery
This week: Edited by: darkin
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Welcome to the Mystery Newsletter. Why are mysteries so popular? Because mysteries make you think. You follow every clue, examine the crime scenes and remember what each suspect said, until you solve the crime. A good mystery can keep you interested until the end. A great mystery will keep you guessing until the last page...when it makes you slap your forehead in surprise!
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Case Solved...Now for the Trial
Detectives solve crimes with only one thing in mind: bringing the criminal to justice. That usually means trying, convicting, and getting the bad guy behind bars for the rest of his or her life. Even if you do not plan to have the trial as part of your mystery story, it is a good idea to have an understanding of the court system in your story's location.
For this article, I am using the California Court System as my example.
California has two types of state courts: Trial and Appellate.
Trial Courts
Trial courts are also called Superior Courts and there is one in each county in the state. Superior Courts handle the following types of cases: Criminal (felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic), civil (probate, juvenile, family and small claims), appeals of small claims and civil cases under $25,000, and appeals of misdemeanor cases. Superior Court is where all state brought cases are tried. These are either judge or jury decided, depending on the kind of trial.
Appellate Courts
In California there are two types of Appellate Courts: Court of Appeals and the California Supreme Court.
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals handles cases where appeals have been made. Cases heard here are not new trials, but reviews of the original Superior Court trials. If someone feels they were wrongly convicted or something improper happened during their trial, they can appeal the decision here.
The Court of Appeals will examine the court files and transcripts, along with the appeal documents. If necessary, the judge will hear presentations, arguments, or might even require questions answered of both sides of the appeal.
The judge alone makes the decision of whether to allow the decision to stand or reverse the decision, which might mean a new trial or the defendant being released.
Supreme Court
This is the state's highest court. If a defendant feels the Court of Appeals ruled wrong, they can request the Supreme Court to review the case. This court also deals with death penalty cases and disciplinary cases involving judges and lawyers directly, without going to the lower courts first.
There are seven justices on the Supreme Court's bench. At least four must agree for a final decision to be found. These justices are appointed by the Governor and approved by the voters. The only court that can over turn California's Supreme Court is the Federal Supreme Court.
Catching the criminal is only half the battle for real-life detectives, and should be for your fictional detective as well. Using court information in your story, even if you have no plans of writing about the villain's trial, will make it seem all the more realistic to your reader.
Research is the number one tool any writer can use, but more so for the mystery writer. Writing a story with the proper facts, in the proper place, will go a long way to making your story stand out from the rest of the pack.
Thank you for taking the time to read. Happy Writing!
darkin
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Here are some items I found while traveling the highways and byways of Writing.Com!
Stories/Poems
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
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Thank you for allowing me into your e-mail boxes for this week's issue. I had a wonderful time writing this issue and would love to hear what you think about it. Here is some feedback I received from my last newsletter.
If you have a moment, I would really appreciate you taking this very short survey. You can only take it once, so please make your answer count You will be rewarded at the end of the survey
darkin
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Submitted By: DB Cooper 
Submitted Comment:
This newsletter is outstanding!!!!! I will think about the tips in case I write a new murder.
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Submitted By: likenion
Submitted Comment:
OH, I was very happy to read about different kinds of murders and their actual names, so that I can sound a bit more sophisticated. Thank you for another job well done!
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Submitted By: andromeda
Submitted Comment:
I guess normal people wouldn't look up murderer info on the internet. but normal people don't write mysteries. hmm.
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Mystery: August 22, 2007 Issue [#1901]
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