Criminal Prosecution And The Judicial Process

Our society for the most part has a set of written laws by which it operates under. Laws govern our behavior in society and list punishments by which individuals that break them will be prosecuted and sentenced. Our criminal justice system is essential made up of three major intuitions which see a case from the beginning and through the trial and finally to the punishment phase ("How Does the Criminal Justice System Work?," 2014). Our society needs laws and punishment for those who violet the laws otherwise we would live in a world of chaos. In this paper we will examine various aspects of the criminal process from arrest through sentencing and appeal.

Police officers, like the citizens they protect, can make mistakes. I do not believe that police officers should be held liable for acting in good faith. According to the United States Supreme Court, per Brinegar v. United States, “because many situations which confront officers in the course of executing their duties are more or less ambiguous, room must be allowed for some mistakes on their part. But the mistakes must be those of reasonable men, acting on facts leading sensibly leading to their conclusions of probability.” (PoliceMag, 2007). The Fourth Amendment protects the citizens of the United States from unreasonable searches and seizures. (U.S. Const. amend. IV). Over the course of history, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of protecting the police officers from any liability. My focus will be on the good-faith exception and the exigent circumstance.

The standard for a legal arrest is probable cause. For an officer to make an arrest, he or she must have more than a mere hunch yet less than actual knowledge that the arrestee committed the crime (Peak, 2009). Law enforcement officers need to make certain they understand probable cause is different than reasonable suspicion. A good example of a reasonable suspicion encounter is Terry V. Ohio, where an officer who had 39 years of experience in law enforcement observed two men standing on a street corner. It appeared based on the officer’s experience the two men were casing a store because they both were walking up and down the street peering into the store windows, and then they would return to the corner to conference. While the officer

The criminal trial process aims to provide justice for all those involved, while it succeeds in the majority of cases, it effectiveness is influenced and reduced by certain factors. These include the legal representation involved in a case and the availability of legal aid, the capacity of the jury assessing the trial, the credibility of scientific evidence and the impact of social media on the trial process. Due to such flaws the criminal trial process is not always an effective means of achieving justice.

The Supreme Court made it clear with its ruling that, police do have the authority to stop or detain an individual for a questioning for a short-term period without probable cause if he/she make have or about to commit a crime. This ruling is important because it gives police officer the authority to help protect him/herself as well as the community. It also puts steps in place to protect citizens from unreasonable search and seizure that is protected our Fourth Amendment right. In the case of Terry v. Ohio a police detective observed two men walking up and down a street several times and gazing into a store window. The officer observing conduct from the individuals that would lead him or her to suspect that a crime has already happened or about to happen is one of the necessities need to consider this as a valid stop. The officer identified himself as an officer of the law and began to inquire and request identification. The officer in this case followed the required guidelines for a valid stop. In return the Supreme Court ruled that this was a valid stop and frisk. According to United States Supreme Court TERRY v. OHIO, (1968) MR. JUSTICE HARLAN, concurring. While I unreservedly agree with the Court 's ultimate holding in this case, I am constrained to fill in a few gaps, as I see them, in its opinion. I do this because what is said by this Court today

When it comes to Search and Seizure, allot of people think that law enforcement should not be allowed to search or seize property. I have heard many arguments against this subject, people stating that law enforcement officers go too far or have no right to search someone’s property such as their vehicle. Probable cause is more than a reasonable suspicion it requires that a combination of facts makes it more likely than not that items sought are where police believe them to be. In addition to establishing probable cause for a search, a warrant must contain the reasons for obtaining it, the names of people presenting the affidavits, what is specifically being sought and the signature of the judge issuing it.

A detention is reasonable when the detaining officer can point to specific articulable facts that, under the totality of the circumstance, provide an objective basis for suspecting the particular person detained may be involved in criminal activity. (People v. Souza (1994) 9 Cal.4th 224.) As such, an investigatory stop based on mere curiosity, rumor or hunch is an unlawful seizure, even though the officer may be acting in good faith. (People v. Clair (1992) 2 Cal.4th 629.) Nonetheless, reasonable suspicion cannot be justified after the fact by evidence of criminal activity uncovered during the course of the detention. (People v. Gale (1973) 9 Cal.3d 788.) Moreover, mere proximity cannot be enough to create reasonable suspicion because proximity

Courts are established social, political, and judicial institutions necessary for the manifestation of justice and the maintenance of law and order. The courts are part of the judicial branch of government, as outlined in Article III of the United States Constitution. Courts are the arenas in which the law is tried and applied. Judges are the presiding officers of the court. The United States Supreme Court is the most fundamental court because has "the authority to decide the constitutionality of federal laws and resolve other disputes over them," (United States Courts, 2012). This is true even though even though the court does not expressly enforce that law; enforcement is the province of the executive branch.

At final, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded the lower court’s ruling. The Court said that all claims that law enforcement officials have used excessive force whether deadly or not in the course of an arrest, investigatory stop or any other seizure of a citizen are properly analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s objective reasonableness standard, rather than the under a substantive due process. The court also stated that a seizure occurs when a law enforcment officer terminates a free citizen’s movement by a means interntionally applied. An officer may sieze a person in many ways including: traffic stops, investigative detentions, and arrests are all seizures under the 4th amendmet. To seize a person, an officer may yell, “stop”, handcuff, a baton, or a firearm can be used to comply the subject with officer orders.

Stop & Frisk- if the police officer has reasonable suspicion that a criminal act took place or is about take place he can search the suspect. If the police officer believes they are arm and dangerous. It is a bit less serious than probable cause. An example can be Johnny is walking down the street with a set of pliers in his

The Criminal Justice process involves the gathering of evidence by the proper authorities, witness testimonies, expert testimonies, psychological examinations, forensics reports,

The criminal trial process is an interesting process that takes place in Courtrooms all across the United States and throughout the globe. This study intends to set out the various steps in the criminal trial process in the American justice system. A trial is described as a "legal forum for resolving individual disputes, and in the case of a criminal charge, it is a means for establishing whether an accused person is legally guilty of an offense. The trial process varies with respect to whether the matter at issue is civil in nature or criminal. In either case, a jury acts as a fact-finding body for the court in assessing information and evidence that is presented by the respective parties in a case. A judge presides over the court and addresses all the legal issues that arise during the trial. A judge also instructs the jury how to apply the facts to the laws that will govern in a given case." (3rd Judicial District, 2012)

he Process In The Criminal Justice System Criminal Justice is a process, involving steps beginning with a criminal investigation and ending with a convicted offender. The center of the process are rules and decision making. Rules in the Criminal Justice System Include the Constitution and Bill of Rights, US code, State codes, Court decisions, Federal rules of criminal procedures, and agency rules and regulations. The Federal rules of criminal procedure are the procedural rules that govern how federal criminal prosecutions are conducted in the United States courts. The use of evidence in criminal proceedings is governed by the separate federal rules of evidence.

The process for criminal and civil litigation is fairly similar, but it also has it differences. The main reason we have criminal litigation is the punish perpetrators. The first step of criminal litigation is to arrest the accused. There are different ways to achieve this, either with a warrant that has been signed by a judge, or if there is probable cause to arrest the suspect. From here the perpetrator is booked into the county jail where they are searched, photographed, and fingerprinted. This "booking information" and "information" sheet, which are the charges that the district attorney issues, will later be filed with the district court. These will only be submitted if the county attorneys decide there is enough information to file a complaint against the suspect. If the complaint gets filed, then there will be an initial appearance hearing scheduled. This is where counsel can be appointed if needed, charges are read, and bail will be set. The next step is the preliminary hearing, which is set between 10 to 20 days depending on the jurisdiction. At this point, the judge decides if there is enough probable cause to bound the defendant over. If they find there is not, then the case will be dismissed and the defendant is release from jail. After being bound over, the defendant 's arraignment hearing will be set. At this hearing, the defendant will have their charges read and will enter in a plea. Depending on what type of plea is put in, this will determine what happens

The United States criminal procedures are its strengths due to the way we handle things. Our criminal procedure starts with our law enforcement. They conduct investigations, look at cases and if they need more evidence to convict the offender they get a warrant to get a hold of the offenders belongings so they can go through all the evidence thoroughly and effectively. Then the investigation leads into the courts were the offender pleads guilty or not guilty. The judge determines the sentencing with the help of the jurors. This process may take a while, especially in murder cases. All evidence is crucial to determine the sentence. The evidence is what helps the jurors and the judge decide if the offender is guilty.