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).
A situation may lender an innocent suspect guilty. Many suspects would seek a go ahead with self-representation rather than acquiring an unreliable defense from a corrupt lawyer. The role of attorneys in the criminal justice system as it applies to right to counsel In the most sensitive court proceedings such as confirmation of charges, trial, and appeal, a suspect will have legal assistance by a court. The attorney will assist the suspect who does not have ability to afford hiring his or her attorney. The lawyer should fully represent the suspect fairly without discrimination or any nature as religious beliefs, nationality, and color among other aspects.
Mandatory Minimum Sentences Mandatory minimum sentencing laws have been among the more popular crime-fighting measures of recent years. Mandatory minimum sentence refers to the fixed sentence that a judge is forced to deliver to an individual convicted of a crime, neglecting the culpability and other mitigating factors involved in the crime. They are those sentences, which a judicial officer is required to impose no matter what the circumstances of the offence. In other words, the judicial officer has no discretion to impose a higher or lower sentence depending upon the nature of the crime. For example, people convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison.
The movie “Death Wish” portrays a constant struggle between the due process and crime control models. The due process model of criminal justice expects a lawful fairness to all citizens. Also, this model attempts to protect a defendant’s rights more than the victim. It relies on authorities powers to be controlled by rules and procedures in order to prevent excessive use of their power. Also, it is important in this process to prove a person guilty by legally-found facts and evidence.
After taken to trial, the prosecutor's case “consisted solely of his confession” to obtain a conviction. The Maricopa County Superior Court convicted Miranda of both rape and kidnapping and was then sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison. Miranda appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, claiming that “the police had unconstitutionally obtained his confession” as well as the absence of an attorney during the interrogation and should have been excluded from trial. The police officers involved admitted that they had not given Miranda any explanation of his rights. They argued, however, that because Miranda had been convicted of a crime in the past, he must have been aware of his rights.
If a person has two or more previous convictions for serious crimes, the three strikes provision applies for them. The defendants here are referred to as third strikers, and they fall in the category of ‘25 years to life’ in prison. The previous crime must be serious to qualify as a strike in both of the provisions (Domanick, 279). Most criminals in these provisions are not entitled to probation, and they should serve a prison term. To sentence a defendant under the two and three strikes provision, he or she must be convicted of a felony offense.
When a person has been charged with a crime, it is the responsibility of her/his defense attorney to defend her/him to the best of her/his ability, where her/his client is innocent or guilty. The defense attorney must be conscience of her/his mistakes could cost their client her/his freedom or even her/his life. The defense attorney's ethical obligations are 1. To defend her/his client with conviction, 2. To have such conviction without regard to guilt or innocence, and finally, 3.
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.
The prosecutor decides to pursue the case on the grounds of the evidence and the quality of it. If there is good evidence for a strong case against the defendant. I believe that if there was more stringent criteria for taking cases then first less case would be pursued and second would be more evidence as well as material in the
Other times, the values conflict relates to differences over the goal of advocacy: a client asks an advocate to argue in favor of capital punishment, whereas the professional values the sanctity of life. (Barksy,