Criminal Justice Process For Felony

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Criminal Justice Process for Felony CRJ306 March 26, 2013 Felony In common law, a felony criminal charge was considered any crime for which an offender would have property such as land confiscated. Most common law felonies were punishable by the death penalty. A felony is a crime such as murder, rape, battery arson, burglary, aggravated assault, illegal drugs, and vandalism of property. A felon is a person that is convicted of a felony in court. A felony conviction has been used to deny a person the right to enter the armed forces or obtain employment, the right to vote as well as the right to bear arms. Investigation Before arresting someone for a felony there must be an investigation…show more content…
Once charges are filed against the arrestee they proceed to the next stage. Arraignment An arraignment is the formal reading of the charges against a person. If the crime is a serious felony then it is combined with a preliminary hearing on bail. This is an opportunity for someone who is charged with a crime to enter a plea. There are three possible pleas which are not guilty, guilty, and no contest (Legal Dictionary,2013). After the plea has been entered, then they determine the dates for the trail. If a person is being held in jail, without specific charges he or she must be arraigned within 24-48 hours of the arrest. The prosecutor must produce enough evidence to demonstrate probable cause for the charge at the arraignment (Legal Dictionary, 2013).…show more content…
During jury selection they select a group of people to come to the courthouse where the judge, plaintiff and defendant attorneys will question the group of potential jurors pertaining to the case or ideological predispositions or life experiences that may pertain to the case. At this stage the judge can excuse potential jurors based on questioning. For example when I was on a jury it was for a rape trial they asked if anyone had ever been raped and the people that stood up were dismissed because they may be biased. This selections helps provide a fair trial by trying to find people that are not biased but the defendant and plaintiff must agree on the jury (Criminal Law Overview,
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