Justice Process By: Ebony Loggins After an arrest is made, at the police station, the suspect is searched, photographed, fingerprinted, and allowed at least one telephone call. After the booking process, charges are reviewed, and if they are not dropped, a complaint is filed and a judge looks at the case for the probable cause. A grand jury will than determine if there is probable cause to believe that the defendant committed the crime. The federal government and about one third of the states require grand jury indictments for most felonies. Grand juries are impaneled, or created for a period of time usually not exceeding three months.
They let them know if there is enough information and evidence to charge a suspect with the crime. They also determine what charges will be filed against the offender, interview witnesses, review search warrants, and subpoena witnesses. In preparation for trial should a plea bargain not be offered or accepted. When and if the case goes to trial, they represent the government in pretrial hearings and motion procedures, enter into plea-bargain negotiations with the defendant and his or her counsel. The prosecutor will try the actual case, make sentence recommendations, upon the defendant being found guilty, and represent the government in appellate court, should an appeal be filed.
During the preliminary hearing, a magistrate will determine if a crime had been committed, if the crime committed occurred in the court’s jurisdiction, and if there is probable cause to believe the person committed the crime(s). If the magistrate does not find probable cause then the case will be dismissed. After the facts are heard from both the persecution and defense, the magistrate determines if the person will be allowed to leave the court on his own recognizance or if the subject will be held in custody until the arraignment. The defendant makes their first appearance in the courtroom during the arraignment. In this process, the defendant enters their plea of either guilty, not guilty, or no contest.
The criminal justice process begins when an officer informs a person that they are under arrest. An arrest is when a person is taken into police custody, and is no longer free to move about as they please. Handcuffs and physical restraint are not necessarily used, but as a precaution, officers usually utilize handcuff’s to prevent the escape of a suspect. The key to an arrest is the ability of officers to exercise authority over an individual, and that person’s submission whether voluntary or involuntary. An arrest is called a custodial arrest and defined as an officer taking into custody a person pending criminal charges, and the individual’s right of locomotion is restricted.
I observed the police prosecutors consulting the defendants’ legal agent on many occasions discussing alternatives to a prison sentence and what the prosecutors felt was fair in way of punishment for this defendant. The bench clerk is the person appointed to assist the Magistrate in the court
Public policing also involves the response to emergency calls through the call system and at times, they must be present in court as the result of citations given for violating a specified law by citizens. If an arrest results, the officer is then required to transport a suspect to a facility where a booking process takes and the officer relinquishes the suspect to the facility’s workers. There can be at times, a great deal of paperwork involved within the roles of public policing because the officer must give an account of the incident. Public policing can be performed on foot, within a patrol car, motorcycle, or even as a mounted police. There are also various
In a trial a jury is present. A huge part of the criminal process is the jury selection. The jury is selected from a jury pool. After the trial a sentence is made up, determining a decree of punishment whether it is prison, money, probation or death penalty. In this case for the gunman prison for life is probably going to be the outcome.
The role of the Clerk of Court is to maintain records of criminal cases, which includes keeping track of papers, organizing papers, and keeping tabs on the decisions, and orders of the judge. Along with maintaining the court schedule, the clerk also prepares the jury pool, issues summons, and subpoena’s witnesses for the prosecution and defense attorneys. Finally, the clerk is responsible for marking and maintaining custody of physical evidence (Meyer & Grant,
November 18, 2012 An arraignment is the process by which the defendant, the person being accused of a criminal act, is read specific charges against him. It is the first step in the criminal process after arrest, it just a brief court hearing. All arraignments are conducted after the suspect is arrested and booked by law enforcement. An arraignment takes place only after the prosecuting attorney decides to file charges. The first two steps in an arraignment are for the accused person, defendant, is addressed by name.
Criminal Justice System Paper The criminal justice system contains three components to criminal justice structure (Schmalleger, 2011, pg 17). The components are; The Police, Courts, and Correctional Agencies. The police implement the law to apprehend offenders to maintain public order and safety for everybody. Law enforcement are responsible for finding, capturing individuals who break the law set forth by the state, local, federal law to bring charges against the perpetrator and ensuring the cases are strong enough to make to the courts (cliffsnote). Once the criminal gets arrested, the individual get book which he or she will be taking a picture and finger print to keep on file and will have the information of the individual that has been charge.