Criminal Jusitice. The Criminal Justice System Process - Research Paper Example

? Criminal Justice Introduction A theft at a townhouse in Northwest Washington drew particular attention of homicide detectives who were investigating the slaying of one of the prominent lawyers approximately three months before within the same address. The police managed to arrest a 36-year-old man at the house which was at the time unoccupied of the break-in of October 30. Authorities mentioned that Phelps Collins got inside through some help from one of his friends and a brother to the owner of the townhouse. However, detectives did not expressly draw a clear connection between the staged break-in and the previous stabbing of Robert Wone. However, homicide detectives were looking into the burglary with the zeal of uncovering various potential leads. Wone was stabbed at the chest as he was visiting friends at the same home on the edge of Dupont Circle along the 1500 block of Swann Street NW. New details relating to the burglary later emerged through a number of interviews conducted much later (Klein &Schwartzman, 2006). Testimonies and court papers from a hearing for Collins the following week at D.C. Superior Court were also sources of information. Collins was later arrested on a burglary charge. Police maintained that Collins confessed to them that that Michael Price, the friend, had provided him with a key to the contended house as it belonged to Joe Price, his brother. Police also added that Collins said that Michael Price was responsible for turning off the alarm immediately the two men broke into the house where electronics worth $7,700 were stolen. Case presented At the time, Michael Price was not yet charged in the burglary and he was not located to provide any comments. After the staged break-in, the detectives proceeded to the nearby pawnshops where they found two DVD players, an audio system among other stolen goods which led them all the way to Collins. In Calvert Street NW, the police found one of the CD changers as they searched the Collins's home. Collins had sold most of the other stolen items along the street for drugs or money, as the authorities speculated. A lawyer at one of the Washington firms, Joe Price, told police that he was not aware that Collins had done it even though he had heard the same through his brother (Klein &Schwartzman, 2006). This is according to information that was sourced from an affidavit the police filed after getting the search warrant for the residence of Collins. Joe Price also mentioned to the police that the brother was known to engage in drug abuse as well as hanging out with diverse subjects who were adversely mentioned in drug usage on a frequent basis. Price directed the police to the fact that he did not avail permission to neither his brother nor Collins of entering his house and removing and later selling his property as stated in the affidavit. His public defender did not comment. Up to the point of the break-in, police expressed considerable doubt on the intruder theory. This is because there lacked an express sign of forced entry as the killer used a kitchen knife. Further, the crime scene seemed to be cleaned prior to the arrival of the officers as recounted by the police. Investigators convened a grand jury as well as enlisting the integral help of the respective departments of the FBI within the homicide. They also sought to keep high levels of control for the $1.2 million houses across several weeks after the killing while removing flooring, a chunk of the staircase, pieces of walls, sink traps and the washing machine searching for blood as well as any other evidence (Klein &Schwartzman, 2006). Collins, who was at the time unemployed, had a criminal history which included four drug convictions between the years of 1998 and 2004 in the Montgomery and District as shown by the records. Authorities mentioned that most of the items taken from the burglary turned up at Pawnbrokers on 14th Street NW at Sam's residence which was only a few blocks away. The manager at the store, Sam Levy, said that Collins had previously pawned goods at the shop in an interview. The Criminal Justice System Process The first step is the police soliciting for a lawful warrant for searching Collins’ premises. Apart from the inventory searches and administrative searches, the search would require probable cause to ultimately make one believe that particularized instrumentalities, evidence, or fruits of the crime will be located in the particularized place. The search will require a warrant or constitutionally approved exceptions for the integral warrant requirement. This will be followed by the arrest of Collins as all criminal cases will have to go through this stem. The police officers will have to explain to Collins the circumstances which he is arrested and what actually constitutes ‘under arrest’ (Smartt, 2006). Arrests will continue to occur even as the police officers continue to intrude on reasonable expectation of an individual in terms of privacy. On the other hand, a warrantless arrest for any felony will require probable cause beyond any reasonable doubt that the individual is arrested while committing a felony. After Collins’ arrest, the booking process at the police station will begin. Following the arrest, Collins will be processed into police custody. His fingerprints and photo will be taken across the booking process and he will be later placed in a cell. As the processing continues, aspects of bail or bonds come up. The first consideration for Collins after being placed in jail would be to know is how much it would cost him to get out based on the set bail amounts. However, based on the financial history of Collins, it is clear that he would not be in raising any amounts of bail. Any defendant who encounters arrest for such a felony and is not indicted, is expressly entitled to adversarial preliminary hearings through which such defendants will be entitled to counsel with the aim of determining the probable cause requiring the defendant to face trial on such charges (Dammer & Albanese, 2011). Arraignment follows and it is Collins’s first appearance in court after the arrest for hearing. Based on the nature of Collins’ crimes, he will have to wait until such an arraignment is expressly at the bail set. An arraignment is established through a Circuit Court appearance through which the defendants charged with felonies enter pleas of not guilty or guilty.  On an occasional basis, the plea of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity would arise. The arraignment in this case is normally based on the first appearance of the defendant (Collins) in the Circuit Court, which commences the timing for subsequent events such as pretrial motions, discovery requirements as well as the analysis of non-constitutional speedy trial. This will be followed by the plea bargaining process. The fact that the criminal court system clearly overwhelmed with many cases to solve, only 10% of cases proceed to trial. Most of these are essentially resolved during a stage popular as plea bargaining. However, due to the value of the items stolen by Collins and his track record; it is highly possible that his case will not rest at this point. The otherwise possible agreements which are almost always used include the offenses and counts that the defendant (Collins) is pleading guilty against other charges which are dismissed by nolle prosequi (nol pros) and not facing charges in their first instance (Smartt, 2006). Preliminary hearing follows where the prosecutor will try to convince the judge that there is sufficient evidence to point at the fact that crimes were committed and Collins probably committed them. Some states proceed to use the grand jury system other than the preliminary hearings. In the event of an escalation, the pre-trial motions will prop up. The attorney will have an opportunity of excluding some of the presented evidence against Collins and try to develop some of the ground rules for the trial by making various pre-trial motions. The ruling will be made during this point of the judicial process which will also focus on the issues of appealing the case much later (Dammer & Albanese, 2011). The federal criminal justice system has the responsibility of placing on the prosecution the due aspects of the burden of production based on a tested motion for judgment prior the acquittal at the end of the case-in-chief of the prosecution. I am of the opinion that Collins is sentenced to 320 hours and undertake a compulsory drug rehabilitation program. The ultimate stage in the process is the appeals process. Clearly, the fact that Collins is an individual with a past record of crime, the possibility of petitioning based on a legal error and its conviction and unfair sentencing are minimal. It is on these grounds that Collins will not appeal to a higher court (Albanese, 2004). However, successful appeals are rare as they usually make headlines in the event that they occur they happen. In this sovereign nation everyone who is facing accusations of crimes can be assumed to be innocent up to the time that they are proven guilty within courts of law as well as the due rights to fair trial irrespective of the fact that they cannot afford hiring their personal attorneys. This way, the criminal justice system is able to protect the innocent while seeking the truth. The Criminal Justice System Process Analysis The strongest link to the criminal justice process are the considerations of the applicability of Collins’ constitutional rights. They include Equal Protection Clause right to counsel, right to speedy trial, right to trial by jury, Right to a fair trial, Right to a public trial, Right to confrontation, Right to compulsory process and the Due Process Clause. At this point, the court will usually order pre-sentence investigation reports. The victim of this burglary crime will be entitled at sentencing to avail a victim impact statement to the sentencing judge. The other major divergence of the conviction in this case is the consideration of the sentencing factors (Albanese, 2004). The courts will consider all forms of information which are relevant to the offender (Collins) or the offense which means all the relevant aspects to the burglary and the criminal, provided that the prosecution provides such information to the defendant before the sentencing. This will also have to be done with sufficient time to enable the defendant to actually investigate the information. References Albanese J. (2004). Criminal Justice. New York: Pearson/A and B Dammer H., Albanese J. (2011). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. New York: Cengage Learning. Klein A., Schwartzman P., (November 2006) Man Arrested In Burglary at Site of Slaying: The Washington Post. Retrieved on 4th May 2013 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601632.html Smartt, U. (2006). Criminal Justice. New York: SAGE. Read More