The Court Procedures Of The Criminal State And Local Levels Of Government

Today, in the United States, most citizens are able to appreciate the fair, balanced legal system that is in place. The country suffered many failures before establishing the United States Constitution, and later the Bill of Rights, which became the foundation of the country’s legal system and protection of the citizens’ rights (American Sentinel University). Citizens may take their right to trial or their right to due process for granted, without realizing how life was before these rights were recognized and established. Until the Constitution in 1787, the justice system was not permanent and not quite clear, causing unfair and unjust treatment. Of course, no system can be perfect, but it is possible to discover options that suit the wants

The U.S court system is comprised of many other court systems: a federal and state system. The purpose of the courts within the criminal justice system, are in charge with the responsibility of determining the innocence or guilt of criminal suspects. The courts protect the rights of citizens and amendments through an individual’s constitutional grantees such as the Fifth Amendment, states that no person shall be held from their right to due process of law, freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy. Private property cannot be taken away without compensation (Thompson). The courts of appeal and the SCOTUS come into play when certain types of cases, such as “cases in which the U.S government is a defendant. The decisions of the circuit courts of appeals are final unless a further appeal is pursed and granted. In that case, the matter is brought before the U.S Supreme Court” (Gaines). The cases that reach the court of appeals and SCOTUS, and their purpose are as follows: “[a]n appeal is available if, after a trial in the U.S. District Court, the losing side has issues with the trial court proceedings, the law that was applied, or how the law was applied. Generally, on these grounds, litigants have the right to an appellate court review of the trial court’s actions. In criminal cases, the government does not have the right to appeal” (United). There are three ways cases reach the supreme court: appeals to courts of appeals decisions; next, appeals from the state supreme courts; finally, under the courts ‘original jurisdiction’. People or entities wishing to appeal the ruling of a lower court file a “petition for writ of certiorari” with the Supreme Court. If at least four justices vote to do so, the writ of certiorari will be granted, and the Supreme Court will hear the case. If four justices do not propose to give certiorari, the petition is denied, the case is not heard, and the decision of the lower court stands (Longley).

My understanding of the court system has changed almost weekly from the beginning of my semester. I do understand things that I never thought I would’ve have known or even cared about in the least. The book Courtroom 302 has brought an even different side of thinking into this. The book goes into detail about the criminal court in Chicago. He watches all of the actions and different trials that come and go in the courtroom 302. He presents many different cases throughout the book which gives more insight then just a single case.

There are six steps in the trial process; these steps include jury selection, opening statements, evidence presentation, closing arguments, charging of the jury and deliberation of jury. Throughout this six step process, it is vital that the rights of all parties involved and respected and protected by

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)

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)

In court, I observed an arraignment. An arraignment is an appearance in court to hear the charges and to make a plea. Before they appeared at their arraignment they were supposed to go through the steps of the criminal justice system. First, there was an investigation, an arrest, and booking. If the suspect was a juvenile, they would go into the juvenile justice system. Next is the prosecution; charging, initial appearance, preliminary hearing, and indictment or information. During charging, the prosecution attorneys are the link between police and the court; they must decide if there is reasonable cause to believe an offense was committed, they either are released or have an initial appearance. At the initial appearance, they are brought before a judge, given a formal notice of charges, advised of their rights, and given a chance to post bail. If not enough evidence has been produced, the judge will dismiss the case and if there is enough evidence, they will move on to a preliminary hearing. The preliminary hearing allows a judge to decide whether there is probable cause

Those involved in the plea bargaining process include: the Government, the defendant, the victim, and the Judges. The Government holds an interest because the judicial system is one of the three branches, it would be a travesty if the judicial system stopped caring about its own courts. The defendant has a vested interest in the proceedings because the result will affect the rest of his/her life. It is ultimately the defendant's choice to plead guilty. On the opposite side of the spectrum the victim, or the victim's family, wants justice to be served. In some state courts the victim is allowed to directly take part in the plea negotiations, however this is also a point of debate. As for the judges, it is their responsibility to finalize and accept the plea deal, or reject it if it is not satisfactory or violates a statute. Plea bargaining has become an integral aspect of the criminal justice system, however, despite the popularity of its use it is imperative that it be under constant scrutiny and evolution. With that in mind there are three programs that will be evaluated; first the practices of the federal courts; second a smaller look at queens district, New York; and finally a closer inspection of a former Alaskan

The criminal trial process has many aspects which aim to balance the rights of victims, offenders and society, including plea bargains and charge negotiations, the ability of defendants to hire legal representation and complete and partial defences. However, these processes do not always succeed in completely achieving justice for victims, offenders and society.

In the american court room there are several people involved. Some of the most important and lawful figures include: the judge, who is the main authority and the one responsible for justice. The prosecuting attorney, responsible for presenting the case against the defendant. The defense counsel, who is in

The stages of a criminal trial lead a proper renewed fair way to process a person who has committed a crime within our judicial system. The eight stages of a criminal trial consist of trial initiation, jury selection, opening statements, and presentation of evidence, closing arguments, judge’s charge to the jury, jury deliberations and the verdict. In my viewpoint the most impactful stages are the trial initiation, jury selection, evidence and verdict. These stages allow a time frame for everyone take action, which ultimately leads to proof of what a person may or may not have done. The principal of a criminal trial is the verdict, which states a person to be innocent or guilty, the whole point of a criminal trial.

During a trial, there are many rules, procedures, and codes of conduct that must be observed. These are in place to allow a trial to proceed more efficiently and fairly for both the defense and prosecution. According to one author, “Police, prosecutors, and criminal court Judges see too much crime, so they tend to see crime everywhere. We need rules to control their conduct, Judges to carefully apply those rules, and other Judges to review those decisions (law-article.net).” Courtroom procedures are important because, without them, defendants and prosecution alike could be treated unfairly. These procedures give a standard format for trials that must be followed to ensure that all parties have an equal opportunity to present their

The function of the criminal courts in society is to control social order and protect the community. The criminal justice system is always changing because of updated laws. The criminal court has five components; the judge, the prosecutor, defendant lawyer, the defendant and the juror. Each component works together to provide the best result for both defendant and society. There are a few models inside the criminal court system that help depict the usefulness of how the courts work. Two of these models are the adversarial model and the second is the consensual model. The adversarial model is when the prosecutor and the defendant 's lawyer both speak before the judge and jury to show evidence pertaining to the defendant trying to prove innocence or guilt. In a consensual model, is where the prosecutor and defendant 's lawyer hash out the charges against the defendant and agree on an appropriate punishment. (Barken),pg 268 There are two more models inside the criminal court system that help portray the court 's efficiency this would be Due Process Model and the Crime Control Model, these solves the predicament confronted by the criminal courts to guarantee a person freedom and the need to protect the people. These two models comprise of analyzing crime and permitting the right justice to be conveyed. Due process method was intended to verify defendants had their rights ensured and that they had a reasonable opportunity to protect themselves in court. This model assumes that

First, as reviewed in class there is a lot of paperwork that is involved in the court procedures. There are myriad rules, procedures, and deadlines that have to be met in order to practice law effectively in the system. The problem with a self-represented litigant has to do with the administrative and procedural errors committed. "A typical scene at a clerk 's office illustrates the kinds of demands that self-represented litigants place on court staff and resources compared to attorney-represented litigants" (Hannaford-Agor, & Mott, 2003, p.164). This puts a strain on the clerks because self-represented litigators will approach them for additional help. This is because they lack the knowledge to file the necessary paperwork required for court cases. It is very common to reject self-represented litigators paperwork because of procedural insufficiencies before cases are successfully completed. It is important to understand that, “failure to file responsive or supplemental pleadings in a timely manner creates additional paper work” which puts stress on the courts and their resources (Hannaford-Agor, & Mott, 2003, p.165). They would have to spend more money on postage costs for reminders or notices for self-represented litigators. It is important to remember that paperwork is important because it helps the courts run efficiently. They need the bureaucratic work for scheduling, and if it is done incorrectly it will result in numerous scheduling adjustments. This will cause some

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.