Courtroom Discretion Q&A Response Misty Moore, Victoria Hardin and Elizabeth Ortiz CJA/224 September 19, 2011 Rick Rice Courtroom Discretion Q&A Response What is prosecutorial discretion? When a crime happens evidence is gathered, witnesses are found and a case file is established all the information. Due to an overabundance of case files, prosecutors review each file and which will be brought to trial. When there is enough evidence to convince the prosecutor the person suspected of committing the crime is guilty without a reasonable doubt, he or she will pursue the case to trial. Many decisions pertaining to a case going to trial and how actively they pursue the case are left up to prosecutors and how they view the evidence and what the evidence means to them.
Courtroom Standards Analysis July 30th, 2012 CJA/484 Criminal Justice Administration Capstone David Mailloux Courtroom Standards The courtroom is made up of individuals that are aware of the law to a point and that can make decisions on putting an accused offender away for a criminal act he or she has committed. These individuals consist of judges, attorneys, victims, the accused, and other courtroom personnel. This paper will go over each type of individual involved in a courtroom setting and his or her role. Judges and Witnesses Judges have many responsibilities such as interpreting the law, taking in evidence throughout the case; judges also determine how the hearing and trials unfold while in the courtroom. A judge has five basic tasks, first making sure that order is maintained throughout the courtroom and throughout the trial.
Prosecution vs. Defense Counsel Paper CJS 220 Prosecution vs. Defense Counsel Paper There are several differences in the roles of the defense counsel and a prosecutor. One of which is what they do and who they work for. The prosecutor works for the state and tries to convict the defense counsels client at all costs. The prosecutor also has the challenge of trying to get the state everything they want in the trial. The prosecutor also has the task of protecting the state in consumer related matters.
Prosecutorial Discretion Prosecutors play very important roles in the courtroom. Prosecutors are granted the right by the courts to have discretion upon a case. Although, prosecutors are obligated to execute the law at both federal and state levels, they still hold the discretion of what charges to try and convict the defendant on. Prosecutors have a wide range of authority in the courts; therefore, the active prosecutor(s) must efficiently analyze any evidence being presented in a case in order to determine if the case will be strong enough to withhold a trial or even if the accused defendant is chargeable. In the case of Bordenkircher v. Hayes (1978), the court stated, “so long as the prosecutor has probable cause to believe that the accused committed an offense defined by statute, the decision whether or not to prosecute, and what charge to file or bring before a grand jury, generally rests entirely in his discretion.” Although there are many factors that come into play when a prosecutor is considering dismissing a case, the most prominent issues are state and federal resources, time, and investigative teams.
Or justice system is made up of many parts and each part has a role that helps the system run smooth to ensure that justice is served. One main role in the criminal justice system is the courtroom work group. The courtroom work group is an informal arrangement between a criminal prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and the judicial officer. The court room work group works together on a daily basis from the trail judge to the court clerk, the trail judge who has the primary duty of ensuring justice during the criminal proceeding. The trail judge has the responsibility for safeguarding both the rights of the accused and the interests of the public in the administration of criminal justice.
Depending on the crime: misdemeanor, felony, or petty offense; punishment is rendered after a conviction is determined. Mitigation by the defense attorney occurs prior to sentencing. According to The Law Offices of Patrick Maher (n.d.), “after a guilty finding, the judge gives the attorney an opportunity to speak on behalf of the client. This is called mitigation, defined as “to make less severe.” This is a very important part of the process and can have a dramatic impact on the judge’s decision.” The crime and circumstance dictates punishment and sentencing. Punishment can include probation, imprisonment, community service, and fines.
The criminal Justice System in definition is the aggregate of all operating and administrative or technical support agencies that perform criminal justice functions. The basic divisions of the operational aspects of criminal justice are law enforcement, courts, and corrections. With each component they can in turn, be described in terms of functions and purpose. In the criminal justice system the key component of the law enforcement process are the warrant and booking. With the warrant it is in the criminal proceedings, a writ issued by a judicial officer directing a law enforcement officer to perform a specified act and affording the officer protection from damages if he or she performs it.
Courtroom Players The workgroup is to be consider an informal arrangement between a prosecutor, defense attorney, and the judicial officer. The way that the courtroom work group interacts on a daily basis is by sharing information and working towards the same goal. The prosecutor roles are too represents the government or the community in a criminal trial. They are to seek justice above getting a conviction. The prosecutor decides to pursue the case on the grounds of the evidence and the quality of it.
The judge will determine if the prosecution of defense has a stronger argument B. Defendants are released if enough evidence is not provided at preliminary hearing III. Arraignment A. Defendants are formally charged with the crime they are being held for B. The defendant enters a plea 1.
These activities include borrowing money from court employees, publicity endorsing and campaigning for candidate for judicial office, conducting personal business from the court chambers, directing other business court employees to perform personal errands for him during court hours, suggesting to persons appearing before him to contribute to certain charities in lieu of paying fines and using court employees to perform translating services for his mother's day care business. Before the judge can be accused of committing a crime, there has to be a determination of which, if any of these activities are unethical behavior. If any of these activities are found to be a crime the judged can found guilty and impeached. They will no longer be able to stay in office. They cannot be removed on any other grounds, including incompetency (Ivan Kaminsky, 2012).