The Court : The Supreme Court

In some cases, the CPS will encourage the court to agree to allow a witness to

Then is arraignment and the plea which once an indictment has been returned or information has been filed, the accused will be formally arraigned. The purpose is to once again inform the defendant of the specific charges against him or her and to allow the defendant to enter a plea. The defendant has the chance enter a plea of guilty, not guilty, or nolo contendere. Then there is

The suspect usually receives bail, but in this case I believe that an arraignment will come first due to the legal status of the defendant.

procedures. The supreme court will be the deciding factor in this in the end; what will affect their

The next step in the system is initial appearance. Here they are given formal notice of the charges against them and advised of their rights.(Bohm & Haley, 2008, p. 13) The movie included this in their depiction of the criminal justice system. In the movie they called it the arraignment. The arraignment is where the defendant either pleads guilty or not guilty. During this stage the bail is also set which was also done in the movie. In the movie the set the preliminary hearing for the next morning in which the witnesses testified to what they saw and heard. This allows the judge to decide if there is probable cause to make and indictment. Based upon the information we have learned it seems that the arraignment should have happened after the preliminary hearing and that the

The most important thing that you can do when you are charged with a crime is to seek legal counsel. This assistance will help provide you with the information that you need so that you understand what is happening. With this information, you will be better prepared to make decisions that will affect your future.

Prospective witness can be notified to appear in court by a subpoena. A subpoena is a court order that demands an individual to be present in court so they can testify as a witness. A subpoena will have all the information that is needed in order to appear in court this includes, the date, time, courtroom, and it will state if the witness is on-call or needs to make a personal appearance. On-call means that the witness does not need to appear personally unless called upon by the prosecutor. An on–call witness must stay close to the courthouse incase they are called to testify. When a person is subpoena you have no choice but to show

The following month the first hearing to occur after a defendant is indicted is the

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)

A landmark case in United States Law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States,

In criminal law, the initiating party is the prosecution. The accused has an opportunity to plead guilty or not and then present their account.

If a plea agreement is not reached, the case may go to an Adjudication Hearing (also called Fact-finding. All parties to the case, including the prosecution witnesses and defense witnesses, will be subpoenaed (summoned) to testify before a Judge. Witnesses may be excluded from the courtroom until they are finished testifying (Clallam County, 2011). The argument for this rule is to ensure that a witness is not influenced by the testimony of another witness. If you are a victim, you have the right to be present throughout the hearing. Since there are no jury trials in juvenile court, the Judge will determine whether or not the juvenile is innocent or guilty of committing a delinquent act after hearing the facts of the case. At the Adjudication Hearing, the prosecution and the defense may make opening statements to the Judge to explain the case. The Juvenile Prosecutor then presents the case against the juvenile respondent. It is the responsibility of the State to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that a delinquent act was committed and the juvenile respondent is guilty of committing the act (Clallam County, 2012). To meet this burden of proof, the Juvenile Prosecutor presents evidence and calls witnesses to testify. Witnesses are required to testify under oath and may be cross-examined by the juvenile's defense attorney.

was a very important case that the Supreme Court decided on. However, the afore mentioned

First, if a juvenile is stopped by a police officer for a crime the officer will determine what to do with the juvenile. The officer can either release the juvenile with a warning or go as far as arresting the juvenile and referring them to the District Attorney’s office. Once the juvenile is in custody they go through a process called intake. It is at the intake stage that the prosecutor (DA) determines whether to refer the case to juvenile court; similar to what is known in the adult criminal justice system as prosecution. It is at this stage that several factors are evaluated. The evidence is reviewed and the seriousness of the offense is considered along with whether or not the juvenile has a previous history with the juvenile court. After the evaluation and review of these factors a case may be dismissed, handled informally or the juvenile may be held in detention pending a formal hearing before a juvenile court judge. The prosecutor must file a petition to the courts

Manifesto sees the decision of the supreme court as “clear abuse of judicial power” (1).