Everyone in the United States has specific rights when they are criminally charged. "I regard trial by jury as the only thing ever imagined by man by which a government can be bound to the principles of its constitution." This quote is from Thomas Jefferson. Trial by jury goes hand in hand with everyone having rights when they're accused, it's one of the key things in the bill of rights, that when you're accused, you have the right to a trial by jury. There are also many other rights. I already knew some things about this topic. Other things were new knowledge to me. Something I already knew was that when you are arrested, the arresting officer must read you your rights as an American. I also knew that you have the right to a speedy and public trial. This was all I knew about this topic before I decided to research it. I wanted to know what many of the rights of criminal defendants were. I did a lot of research for this article. I found most of my articles on the Internet. I was able to find some things from my civics notes, which were very helpful in some of these things. I found five different articles and from all of them I learned some facts that I didn't know before. The principal right of the criminal accused is to a public and speedy trial by an impartial jury, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, that if he cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you (“Sixth Amendment”, np). Another right that defendants have is self-incrimination, meaning testifying against yourself, and double jeopardy, meaning being tried twice for the same crime if you are found not guilty. The Fifth Amendment guarantees both of these rights.... at the heart of the Charter... of Rights." Fundamental Constitutional Rights as a Person Accused of a Crime. Np, nd Web. December 2, 2013. .Hornberger, Jacob G.. "The Charter of Rights: The Rights of the Accused." The Future of Freedom Foundation, n.d. Web. December 2, 2013. .Mott, Jonathan. "ThisNation.com--Rights of the Accused." ThisNation.com--Rights of the Accused. Np, December 1, 2013. Web. December 1, 2013. “Rights of the Accused.” TheFreeDictionary.com. Np, nd Web. December 2. 2013. .