In the 18th century most individuals were allowed to have his or her defense attorney present during criminal cases. There are certain fundamental rights that are safe guarded by the first set of eight amendments against the federal actions, and against those actions of the state by due process of law and the fourteenth amendment. Among these rights are fundamental rights of the accused individual to have aid from a counsel during criminal prosecutions. The rights of a defendant during a criminal trial to have aid from a counsel is a fundamental right that can lead to a petitioners trial and a fair trial, but a conviction without the aid of a counsel will violate the rights of that individual under the fourteenth amendment. Most of the time it is common for an individual to have assistance from a counsel offered to him or her in most cases, but it is not always necessary to have one.
It has long been speculated that mistaken eyewitness identification plays a major role in the wrongful conviction of innocent individuals. A growing body of research now supports this speculation, indicating that mistaken eyewitness identification is responsible for more convictions of the innocent than all other factors combined. This essay serves to reveal the importance of eye witness memory in the legal system. To begin with, eye witness testimony assists in law enforcement. Feldman (2009), eye witness and victims are sometimes better able to recall the details of a crime when hypnotized.
In most murder cases criminals who commit heinous crimes have used the insanity defense in pleading their cases. I’ve heard about a lot of people who have committed unspeakable crimes plead insanity in the preceding court trials. Would you let someone like this hide behind this plea and basically get away with murder? A criminal who was in his right state of mind meaning they knew what they were doing shouldn’t be able to use the insanity defense. In this speech I am going to tell you about the types of insanity defense that are used in court cases, the process that goes into verifying a criminals sanity, and the issues that come about after a plea is entered.
According to Terry Lenamon, expert Criminal Trial Attorney, the first, and most popular, is the “M’Naghten test.” Lenamon says, “Under M’Naghten, the determining factor is whether or not the defendant was (1) able to understand what he (or she) was doing at the time of the crime due to some “defect of reason or disease of the mind” or, (2) if he (or she) was aware of what they were doing, that he (or she) nevertheless failed to comprehend or understand that what they were doing was wrong” (Lenamon). With that in mind, think about how many inmates have not taken that test and have been wrongly convicted. The American Civil Liberties Union states, “Mental Health America, estimates that five to ten percent of all death row inmates suffer from a severe mental illness.” Furthermore, if these people could get tested, they would realize how many people are legally insane and do not deserve to be in jail, but rather a hospital. Consequently, some of the individuals sitting on death row may
Aside from the verdict from the Hinckley trial, the public’s view on the insanity defense is not altogether accurate. There’s a misconception that criminals who use this type of reasoning as a plea can evade punishment. When it comes to the use of the insanity defense, only about one percent of criminals use this type of justification. By using the insanity defense, the criminal is admitting they are guilty of the crime however they are requesting a not guilty verdict based on the state of mind they were in at the time of the crime. This can get tricky for a defendant because if not proven mentally ill, they will be found guilty and usually endure a harsher sentencing for the crime.
The second layer consists of “high-profile” or serious felonies such as murder, rape, or burglary. In this layer the person who committed the crime usually has a criminal past such as a criminal history including serious injury to a person or the use of a weapon when the crime occurred. This layer of the wedding cake model uses the standard procedures of the criminal justice system as the cases are not considered as a celebrated case. However, cases in this second layer have a less likely chance of being released on bail.
The concern with this model is a quick and speedy conviction despite the innocence of the alleged criminal. Many wrongful convictions have been overturned because of the proponents of the crime control model. The due process model prevents and eliminates mistakes and protects the truly innocent. The entire process is fair and balanced. There are many cases I heard of and read where defendants were found not guilty after serving
Evaluate the effectiveness of the criminal trial process as a means of achieving justice. The criminal trial process is the entire system which includes juries and courts, as well as defences and appeals, where the guilt or innocence of the alleged offender is determined. The criminal trial process in NSW is overall ineffective as a means of achieving justice for the offender, victim and the community as a whole. Whilst there are some positive aspects of the criminal trial process, the negative aspects are far more evident. These limitations are shown regularly in the areas of juries and victims’ rights.
Some of the duties of law enforcement are to investigate law violations, gather evidence, make arrests, solve crimes, and then assist with the successful prosecution of suspects. Upon the law enforcement officer making an arrest the case is then presented to the court system. The district attorney office handles most cases of the criminal nature, besides some misdemeanor crimes such as minor traffic violations. Law enforcement usually develop a good working relationship with their local district attorney’s office which promotes quality officer related testimony and
There are criminals that need help but do not get help there for result in criminal activity. Then there are the criminals that are flat out insane. The correctional stage can be effective; it just depends on the sanity of the