Pros And Cons Of A Prosecutor

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.

The same kind of good evil scenario between the defense attorney and prosecutor’s office is also evident in the television show Law & Order. Although that show does not often portray one side as only good or only bad, there have been times when it has created defense attorney characters who have taken advantage of the law to force the system to completely exonerate their clients, which makes them appear to be evil people who are “cheating” justice. Reality and Fiction: the True View 3 The reality of attorneys on opposing sides of a case is that they are seldom easily identified as good or evil persons and just because they are working for the defense or the prosecution does not indicate the type of person they are (Steinberg). Both are expected to act legally and both have pressures on them that affect their work and who they are. Simply the side they represent does not alone affect the kind of person they are. As to how they try their cases, attorney ethical codes require attorneys to “zealously” pursue their case for the benefit of their client to the extent the law allows (ABA). This means that if a defense attorney sees an opportunity for his client to be set free then he or she must use it because that is their job. It is the job of the prosecutor to assure the defense does not have those opportunities. Again, this does not reflect on the quality of their character. The same thing can also

While all of the topics that we have covered throughout this course have been troubling, the topic of prosecutorial misconduct is to me one of the most distressing; the mere thought of the possibility of misconduct by prosecutors gives me the chills, and the numerous examples featured within the assigned chapter readings, in addition to the online articles, only further my skepticism in the legal system and those individuals holding official positions. There appears to be a lot of similarities between prosecutorial misconduct and the topics that we discussed as possible reasons for faulty forensic science, such as a common trust bias in police officials, lack of universal standards, and other cognitive biases such as confirmation bias and belief perseverance.

* 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.

What did the prosecutor do wrong? How does immunity protect the prosecutor from the consequences of his or her misconduct?

Prosecutors play a critical role in determining a defendant’s guilt. Despite this role, the powers ascribed to prosecutors have long been debated. In the 1960’s and 1970’s the United States Supreme Court sought to clarify the powers ascribed to prosecutors in three cases. These cases included: Brady v. Maryland 373 U.S. 83, Giglio v. United States 405 U.S. 150, and the United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97. Although the issue explored by the Supreme Court differed in each of these cases, the verdict in each case helped to clarify whether or not prosecutors in the United States had the right to suppress evidence.

One thing I notice is a lot of the misconduct is by the arresting officers or detectives that are investigating the crime. The ways an office can have misconduct that could lead to false convictions, include suggestions when conducting interviews, coercing false confessions, lying to jurors about observations, failing to turn over evidence. Common forms of misconduct by a prosecutor can include, withhold evidence from defense, mishandling, mistreating or destroying evidence, allowing witnesses that they know are not truthful to testify, Pressing Witnesses of the defense to not testify, relying on fraudulent forensic experts.

To say that one reason prosecutors engage in misconduct is because the U.S. criminal justice system favors convictions over justice is too vague of a term and it is not necessarily this way. There are other factors that needs to be taken in consideration and it is too skeptic to say it this way for all prosecutors. To encourage justice over convictions, one can participate by giving more training to prosecutors, investigate thoroughly before pressing any charges, and pursue the truth of the case instead of thinking ways to be promoted. Prosecutors are the administrators of justice at trial and they should uphold constitutional rights of everyone involved. The reactions would be overwhelmingly crazy and shocking if we started charging prosecutors

Specifically, in a criminal trial, it is the role of the jury to determine a “guilty” or a “not guilty” verdict which is set in place by the standard “beyond a reasonable doubt” meaning that even with the slightest indication of doubt, the defendant must be found not guilty. This standard places the burden of proof with the prosecution to ensure the judge or

The prosecutor's interest in the prosecution is to win, and for the unscrupulous, unethical prosecutor to win regardless of the guilt or innocence of the accused. The prosecutor's career path could be injured by failing to win, showing the lack of skill as a prosecutor for a lost criminal case, or poor professional judgment in obtaining an indictment which later was dismissed. The prosecutor's career path is enhanced by being, and being known as the "winner", which enables the prosecutor to get more

Prosecutors have difficulty when it comes down to pursing a case. Prosecutors have cases that can take months and years before the case is even finalized. When a complaint is made, prosecutors start to seek evidence in order to pursue the case. The majority of many cities and counties, prosecutors review and evaluate the sufficient evidence to also pursue with the case. Sufficient evidence that prosecutors evaluate are police reports, interviewing, and asking witnesses questions who could be a possible lead to the case.

Even with the credibility issue, the case made its way through the judicial process, and this resulted in the offender receiving a probated sentence. Law enforcement have a certain job they have to fulfill, prosecutors have a certain job they have to do, and the judicial system plays a significant role in the American criminal justice system. Law enforcement officer collects the facts, evidence, and put it together with the ultimate goal of prosecuting a person for a crime. The District Attorney looks at all of the facts of the case, to including witness credibility, and decides how they will proceed in a case. If the DA decides the case needs to go to trial, then it goes through the judicial process which ultimately takes it to a circuit or district court. The judicial process involves a preliminary hearing in a lower court, after that a case goes to a grand jury. If the grand jury decides the case is true billed, then the case makes its way to circuit court. A DA can decide a settlement will be better served for any reason; regardless of the reason, then they have the option to do so. I believe or the most part based on my experience, prosecutors can quickly figure out what the defense is going to argue. I don’t know of any DA who takes a case to trial just to lose it. Prosecutors have great pride in their job, and they respect the judicial system. Ultimately, prosecutors seek justice for a victim or victim's when a case does not result in a conviction they feel as they let that family

The academic journal explains that it may be best to have independent agencies as a start point to fix the lack of trust and police accountability. A survey was conducted in the countries that do have an independent prosecutor and results came back that the countries have higher trust in their justice system than countries who does not have an independent prosecutor. the article also explained how it may cause issues because police officers and local prosecutors may object to the idea of having independent counsel but if they do then that just goes to show that something is up within their system and it needs to be fixed. The way to start fixing the issue is to get an independent prosecutor.

Rule: Article 6 of the Prosecutor’s Code of Conduct which requires prosecutors to “at all times conduct themselves professionally, maintaining the honor and dignity of their profession, always upholding and acting in accordance with the law in both professional and private life, and consistent with the rules and ethics of their profession.”