Taken To Court Case Analysis

The next step in the criminal justice process that the defendant would experience is grand jury indictment or a preliminary hearing to establish probable cause. Prosecutors present evidence to a grand jury without the

* In the criminal courts a judge and sometimes a jury hears a witnesses testimony and other evidence and decide cases by applying relevant law to the relevant facts. People who are not satisfied with a trial court decision appeal cases to judges in the appellate courts.

Following the arraignment of the accused, and where a plea of not guilty is entered, the accused is open to be tried by a jury made up of his peers. At this point it is said that he is put in their charge where he remains until such time as he chooses to change his plea to guilty, or until a final determination of his guilt or innocence is returned by the verdict of the jury.

The court is the second component of the justice system – once the suspect is arrested, s/he is referred to as a defendant. It is now up to the court to decide if the police had enough evidence for probable cause for arrest – if the determination is positive, then the defendant gets an opportunity to plead innocent or guilty. Once the court establishes that the defendant is innocent, s/he is released; on the other hand if the defendant is found guilty the court decides the type of punishment and then the defendant is turned over to the Corrections for the follow up of the punishment.

In America we have an Adversary System of Justice, which means that criminal trials proceed under the adversary theory of justice to arrive at the truth in a given case. One characteristic of this system is intensive cross-examination of both defense and prosecution witnesses. In a jury trial, it is for the jury, which observes these witnesses, to weigh the evidence and make the ultimate decision in every case—guilty or not guilty. However, not every case makes it to trial in fact, about 80% of defendants plead guilty allowing them to just be sentenced and not have to go through the whole process of a trial. Other cases are dropped, or dismissed if the prosecutor, or in some cases a grand jury, feels that there is insufficient evidence to carry on. Some defendants are sent to diversion programs, these individuals are often sent here because an official involved in the case believes that there is a better way to deal with a defendant than to prosecute them.

Because the defense has no burden of proof, they have the easier side of the case. The prosecution has to prove the defendant guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The jury can have no thoughts that the defendant could be innocent in any way. On the other hand, the defense side is supposed to find pieces of evidence that could show that the defendant wasn't doing anything illegal. The defense tries to point out

If during all of this process no agreement or deal has been made it goes to trial. “A trail is the proceeding during which the government and the defense present evidence to prove or disprove the charges” (Victim Assistance, 2013). If the defendant chooses to have a trial by jury than the jury selection process begins. “Twelve jurors are selected randomly from the jury pool, a list of potential jurors compiled from voter registration records of people living in the district” (Steps in the Federal Criminal Process, 2015). An ideal jury should consist of all types of people from different races and cultures (Steps in the Federal Criminal Process, 2015). Each attorney asks each potential jury member questions about their prejudices to help them decide whether or not they want them on the jury (Steps in the Federal Criminal Process, 2015). The judge is there to make sure that the attorneys are fair with their questions, and that the jury selection ends up fair and impartial.

The heart of the American Judicial System is the determination of the innocence or guilt of the accused. At the beginning of the play, the jurors all feel that the man is guilty for murdering his father and they all wanted to convict him without carrying out a detailed discussion. The persistence of juror eight, however, plays a significant role in ensuring that the correct and fair verdict is delivered. The judicial system maintains that the defendant does not have an obligation to prove his innocence. The fact is not clear to everyone as Juror 8 reminds Juror 2 about it. The fact is a key element of the judicial system and assists in the process of coming up with a verdict. The defendant is usually innocent until proven guilty. Another element of the judicial system that comes out in the play is for a verdict to stand it must be unanimous. Unanimity ensures that the

The Criminal Trial: If offenders choose not to plea bargain then this is where they end up. Here the prosecutor tries to prove that a crime was committed and that the defendant is the one who committed it, while the defense attorney tries to prove otherwise. Testimonies are heard, evidence is examine, and both prosecutor and defense attorneys conclude with closing arguments. Juror then deliberate, then defendant is either found guilty, not guilty, or it’s a hung jury. A hung jury means that the jurors could not reach a verdict, which would lead to a mistrial. (Wright, 2012)

During the jury trial, the accused person will be represented either by a paid lawyer of his or her choice or by a court-appointed one. During the trial it is solely upon the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused person, and it is up to the accused person and his representation to rebut the information the prosecution presents. When the jury has heard all of the evidence against the accused person, they will decide on whether the person is guilty or not guilty. If the accused person is found guilty by the jury, he or she will be sentenced according to the law. If the accused person is found not guilty by the jury, he or she will be able to return back into society as a free person.

Still in some cases, prosecutors may be convinced that they have the right defendant and a completely accurate charge as to what crime(s) he or she committed, and yet secure a conviction may be questionable. This of course is beneficial for both sides to arrange a resolution of the matter without either side taking the chance that the case may go against them if it was to go to trial.

Several pairs of eyes trail the prosecutor as he puts forth his reasons as to why the defendant should be guilty. Several pairs of ears listen intently in a trance like mode, also cautious of every detail. The prosecutor presents the facts with great gusto, painting a picture of the defendant in a bad light. Once he is done, the defendant’s lawyer takes the stage and he too, with great effort, puts forth reasons as to why his client is innocent. In the end, when everything is said and done and it time for the verdict, only one voice answers to the court clerk out of the 12 men and women. These 12 people are the jurymen and they play an equally important role as the lawyers and judges of a court trial. In fact, a jury is the sole decider, based

The current judicial system allows prosecutors and the defense to plea bargain cases, which they negotiate for the person who is accused of a crime and pleads guilty. Their charges or sentence is lessened for their guilty plea even though the person is innocent.

In the trip from the police station the whole class went inside a courtroom. In the courtroom, the police officer that was gave us the tour around the Sherriff department talked about the difference between probable cause and reasonable suspicious. Also, what happened when a person gets arrested. He explained that the difference between probable cause and reasonable suspicious is that with probable cause a police officer doesn’t have the right to find out if you had committed a crime. Also, they must prove that a crime happened. In the other hand, reasonable suspicious is when a police officer can see how you are in the society by checking if you have committed a crime or not. Nowadays, most of the shows that are giving in Television it shows that when a person get arrested they go to jail for weeks or months to wait for their trial date. From this trip, the information that I have learned specifically is that people that get arrested do not go to jail for weeks or months to wait for their trial like it is seen in shows. The police officer that was with us inside the courtroom explained that when a person gets arrested they obtained a due date where they will have the opportunity to see a judge. When the person go to see the judge, the judge will let the defendant know what crime they will be charge with and whether they will attend to a municipal court or a grand jury. Lastly, they will go to trial and that is when a judge will determine if the person is guilty or not of the crime that they were charged with. Hearing the police officer talked to us inside the courtroom was what resonate with me because not only was my expectation fulfilled since I expected to learn how the process that they followed for the people that commit crimes works. But, I got to see real defendants getting charged with a certain crime and getting sent to a municipal court or a grand jury.

It first starts with a crime being committed, let’s say Joe shot and killed Alex. A bystander reported the shooting to the police, the police and investigators that get assigned to this homicide, work with other members of the police system to investigate what happened and who was responsible for the crime. The police then determine that Joe shot and killed Alex. Joe is then found and arrested on murder charges. Now remember Joe is innocent until proven guilty by a judge or jury of his peers. This all happens within the Police system.