Due Process In order for a crime to occur there are elements to a crime. First the act that was committed has to be justified illegal, next there has to be a victim, and a location the alleged crime occurred. Unless a police officer has witnessed the crime when it occurred, they cannot respond until the crime has been reported. After a crime has been reported then the criminal justice system begins. The person who allegedly committed the crime has just as many rights as the victim, and their rights start the moment the arrest is made.
It is important to the criminal justice system because a client should always have adequate representation. The issues that surround attorney-client privilege also make it very important to the court system. Some of the issues that exist because of the complexity of privilege are mainly questions such as in what instances should an attorney break that privilege, what if a client admits guilt of a crime, what about a client that conveys their intent to commit a crime. Admitting guilt of a crime that has already occurred is considered privileged information, however, a client that conveys their intent to commit a crime is not covered under the attorney-client privilege. It is an attorney’s obligation, in fact, to break that attorney-client privilege in order to prevent future harm (Meyer & Grant, 2003).
Also, it is important in this process to prove a person guilty by legally-found facts and evidence. However the crime control model does not protect a suspected offender’s rights as much. The crime control model is based more on helping the victim, even if defendant’s rights are compromised. This model attempts to repress crime and give expansive power to police. It looks to find guilt rather than prove innocence.
Two Models of the Criminal Process The two models of the criminal process; due process and crime control serve as the foundation of order and liberty as it relates to the practice of criminal justice and criminal law. These models struggle against each other to represent their own value system as it applies to ideologies in criminal justice procedures. Although there seems to be a difference between these two principles of criminal law, each one has positive qualities. The due process and crime control models contain prepared subject matter of values primary to the constitutional order of how criminal law is practiced (Packer, 1968). “The machinery of criminal justice—police, prosecution, courts, and corrections—is the formal means by which order is maintained in our society” (Zalman, 2008, p. 4).
Legal procedures which will stop law enforcement should be excluded. The criminal justice system should operate quickly without delays from the criminal cases and the character of the cases. The arrest of someone should be thought of as being guilty, but in society everyone is innocent until proven guilty. The investigation of the suspect has been done, all facts are in, and so the suspect should be assumed guilty. The process is to discover facts and establish guilt of the
Therefore, by having sufficient evidence this would be enough to convict a criminal in the court of law. Crime control is based on handling crimes that occur with a quick and effective outcome. For example if the prosecutor does not have strong evidence to receive a conviction there is a slight chance the offender’s case will get dismissed. Therefore, emphasizing the capacity to arrest, and convict a high proportion of offenders in other words put the criminal in jail first and question later. However, with the “due process an individual is allowed their day in court if suspected of a crime because of United States constitution.
Justification and excuse both play an interesting role in the criminal justice field. Justification is a legal defense used when a defendant will admit to the crime committed, but will also claim that the act was necessary and justified, to avoid something that would be worse than the initial act in question (Schmalleger, Hall, & Dolatowski, 2009). Excuse differs because it is a legal defense that the defendant will state that some sort of personal circumstance or condition was occurring during the act, was that in nature that she or he should not be held liable for that act (Schmalleger, Hall, & Dolatowski, 2009). In turn, justification is more of physical act, and excuse is more of the status or “mental capacity” of the individual that is committing the crime (Schmalleger, Hall, & Dolatowski, 2009). Commonwealth v. Lorena Bobbitt In the case Commonwealth v. Lorena Bobbitt, Lorena on June 23, 1993 took a twelve inch knife and severed the penis of her husband John Bobbitt.
2003. p. 114). The prosecutor’s main roles are to establishing that those guilty are prosecuted, and to determine which cases are weak and weed them out. Meyer & Grant (2003) state that, “ the tasks that prosecutors perform fall into three broad categories: planning and supervising the investigation phase of criminal and civil cases, case preparations, and responding to the issues related to appeals. The defense attorney’s role is to protect an individuals right when he or she has been accused of committing a crime, and to ensure that the individual is not prosecuted unjustly or falsely tried. A prosecutor presents evidence to prove that the defendant is guilty of the crime and the defense attorney tries to prove that the defendant is not guilty.
The prosecution must without a reasonable doubt prove the defendant is responsible for committing the crime. And in doing so must remain within the regulations of the courts. Sometimes the prosecution’s personal, ethical. Organizational, or political beliefs can becomea driving force into a trail which can have negative effects on the courts when misconduct occurs or mistakes are made. When misconduct or mistakes are made it can have very damaging effects on individuals and their lives, but also to the credibility of the criminal justice system.
In contrast, the due process model emphasizes "protecting the rights of the accused through formal, legal restraints on the police, courts, and corrections" (Gaines). Under the due process model, the same case would face would be put under a microscope and carefully examined; every piece of evidence, every witness testimony would be scrutinized in order to ensure a fair trial is delivered. The due process is more beneficial to the criminal justice system because it protects everyone's rights equally by regulating the police and courts. The due process model is what separates