Courtroom Workgroup
The courtroom workgroup consists of a Judge, Prosecutor, Defense attorney, Bailiff, Clerks, Court reporters and the public. There can be three types of clerks present at court the law clerk, clerk of court, and the docket clerk. During my court observation I observed the judge, prosecutor, and the defense attorney. The Prosecutor and Judge were observed more during my court observation. The Defense attorney wasn’t observed as much because the defendants waived the right to an attorney on some cases.
The judge, prosecutors, and defense attorneys all have detailed qualifications. The most noted qualification is the actors must have completed law school. They must be educated in Legal ethnics to even take the bar to get out of law school. After completing law school, the actors can become attorneys or prosecutors. To become a state judge, one must be appointed to that position by the merit system. And to become a federal judge an individual must be nominated. Also, an actor who is a practicing attorney whether it be defense or persecution to move up in rank the individual must be promoted. But to be a chief prosecutor one must have to be elected locally. All federal attorneys roles are given by appointment.
Roles & Duties Prosecutors have the duty of prosecuting criminal cases. A prosecutor holds the most critical role in the criminal courts system because of its central position. Prosecutor role bridges all other roles. The reason why is because the
The role of the prosecutor boils down to three main goals. The prosecutor is responsible for investigating the crime committed, decide whether or not to proceed with legal proceeding, and finally, if legal proceedings are instigated to appear in court.
My reactions to the courtroom observation is that the court house generates allot of money in fines and get the community allot of committee service. They are a lot more player in the courthouse then the book states. The bailiff and other officers that work in the court house are major players in the functions of the court house as well. The secretary is also very important she or he schedules continuing court dates and handles most of the paper work.
Author Steve Bogira wrote a book based on his experiences over one ear in Chicago’s County Criminal Courthouse. His book Courtroom 302 goes through numerous cases and trials during the book, and gives the reader an inside look at what really is going on inside of the courtrooms. The key player in this book are the defendants, deputies, prosecutors, attorneys, and jurors. However, the judge of the courtroom, Judge Daniel Locallo is the main character most of the book is around, because he handles all of these cases.
* Although the police, judges, defense attorneys, and probation officers remain involved in specific duties, the prosecutor proves challenged in phases of the court process. Prosecutors challenge judicial decisions at times (Byrd, 2001). The office of the prosecutor proves part of the executive branch of the government. In all phases of the court process, given broad discretion, his/her job is to advocate the guilt of defendant vigorously. The prosecutors represent the people. Prosecutor screen the case. They determine if a crime has been committed. They research the crime to examine if a suspect has proved properly identified and if the evidence is sufficient to support a guilty verdict (Schmalleger, 2011).
In the American Criminal Justice System, there are four key attributes in the role of the prosecutor. There are discretion, resource dependence, sequential tasks, and filtering. The prosecutors are lawyers that are accountable for presenting criminal cases in trial. The United States Attorneys are pointed by state or government, and represent the federal government in courts. They prosecute all adults who commit felonies and juveniles who commit delinquent crimes. Conjointly, the prosecutors have further responsibilities, such as legal adviser of the country commissioners, the Board of Elections, and written admonition of the prosecutors.
Another obvious individual that can be found within the court is an attorney. They also play an important role, there are attorneys for both parties meaning the plaintiff and the defendant. Attorneys can be either hired by each party or an attorney can be appointed to them by the court. Their role in the courtroom, “is to bring out the facts that put his or her client’s case in the most favorable light, but do so using approved legal procedures… On relatively rare occasions defendants in criminal cases or parties in civil cases attempt to present their case themselves, without using a lawyer. Parties who act on their own behalf are said to act pro se” (Courtroom Participants). Attorneys represent people within the court for those who have little to no knowledge of the law. A party with an attorney has a great possibility of win a case as opposed to not having legal representation. Attorneys have
A courtroom work group is a set of individuals and teams who work together to prosecute a criminal court case in the hopes of getting a conviction. This group consists of the judge, the prosecutor, the defense attorney, bailiff of the court, the clerk of the court and the court reporter. These groups of professionals work together from the very beginning of the criminal case, through the criminal justice system to their ultimate goal, a conviction. Sometimes the end does not always result in what they may want; there also may be a dismissal or no conviction at all.
Defense attorneys are the individual's representative who argues for the protection of the citizen’s rights and also "to preserve due process and equal protection of the law" (About CACJ., n.d.). Both the district and defense attorneys’ argue in front of the judge who considers the arguments and determines whether or not the limitations of a person's rights is necessary. According to the California Code of Judicial Ethics (2016), a judge has seven responsibilities. They are required listen to the all their case, to follow the legal standards, to keep peace in their courtroom, to be patient, to work without prejudice, to keep lawyers from acting from prejudice, and to give every person their right to be
The role of the judge in the PEGGY Hettrick case, since it was a jury trial, was to basically reign over the trial, making rulings on motions and objections made by the prosecutors and the defense counselors. The judge was not the one who actually decided whether Tim Masters was guilty or not guilty, that was the job of the jury. So in these types of trials, called jury trials, judge’s role is “to make sure all the parties and witnesses follow proper court room procedure,” and to “provide the jury with instructions about the law so that the jury can make an educated decision about the case” (Thomson Reuters, 2014, para. 1, 3). The official role of the prosecutor is “to conduct criminal proceedings on behalf of the state or the people against
1. When being a prosecutor one must be un-biased despite if they already made up their mind that the accused is guilty. Therefore, we have a saying that all courts and law enforcements should abide by, which is “everyone is innocent until proven guilty.” The prosecutor’s job is to collect evidence that he or she may provide to the court to prove if the defendant is innocent or guilty.
Prosecuting those who commit crimes is very important to the overall wellbeing of society and the citizens within society. Prosecuting and convicting criminals not only prevents them from committing another crime, it also serves as a deterrent to others that may be considering breaking the law. Many courts make up the judicial branch and these courts are responsible for applying laws made by the government. The courts are made up of courtroom workgroups that are the basis of the courts proceedings.
I want to be a prosecutor because I want to help give people closure when someone or something has hurt them. The education and training of a prosecutor takes a lot of work, so you have to be very committed. First, you have to complete four years of an undergraduate degree at a college or university. Then, you have to attend a Law School. But, before you do so, you must take the Law School admissions test (LSAT), both the LSAT and your GPA will play a big role in getting into Law School(Tronshaw, “Requirements to Becoming a Prosecution Lawyer”).When you first get into Law School you must take some required courses such as real property, legal research, and writing, civil procedure, criminal law and tort law (Jackson,”Requirements to Become a Prosecution
ON 09-03-2016 at 0930 hours, I was notified by Sgt Kelley of an aggravated battery which occurred at 2111 Roanoke Springs Drive. I was advised to respond to St. Joseph’s Hospital (South) at 6901 Simmons Loop in Riverview. Upon my arrival, I met with Sgt. Kelley, Deputy Karpenske # 249578 and Crime Scene Tech Dewitt. There was a black 2013 Nissan Maxima bearing Florida tag, DGV F36, parked in the emergency room parking bay. I learned the suspect, Joanna Lebrea Lewis had driven the car to the hospital for treatment of the injuries sustained during the offense. It was learned that verbal consent had been obtained from both the victim and suspect to search their residence and vehicle. It was also learned the victim, Marieio Denod Spradley,
For my observation, I chose to observe a civil case that had to do with a divorce. I did some research on the cases, and chose one that was similar to an experience I went through. My parents are currently separated, and my father simply refused to pay child support. He lives outside of the state, so it was hard for my mother to have face to face confrontation with him. She got tired of raising three kids on her own, and finally decided to take him to court. I was required to serve as a witness. This took place in 2009, so I was thirteen years old and didn’t really understand much of what was going on. I timidly walked to the stand and was sworn in. I then answered the questions the attorney asked me.
Law enforcement have multiple responsible and duties, officers investigate crimes, gather and protect evidence and take reports on various crimes. In addition, officers have the power arrest offenders, and give testimony in court. Thus, law enforcement personnel ensure that charges against offenders are strong enough to stand up in court. The second component of the criminal justice is the courts. This aspect of the criminal justice system includes prosecution and defense lawyers, judges and juries. These individuals make sure and enforce every offender are given fair trials regardless of race, gender, or religion. Judges, also known as