Mod 3 Pre-trial and trial procedures - Assignment Example

MEMORANDUM RE: QUESTION PRESENTED: PRE-TRIAL AND TRIAL PROCEDURES Criminal procedure is concerned with identified rules governing the steps to be followed through which the government enforces the set of rules that define prohibited conduct because it poses a threat or endangers citizens. The detailed criminal proceedings involve search, seizure, arrest and interrogations. Self-representation: Although the Supreme Court allows one to represent oneself, this must be after the trial court has undertaken thorough Faretta to determine if the accused has the level of intelligence and is competent to represent oneself.

Statement of FactsThe Right to Self-Representation: The case of the long Island Railroad massacre. In December 7 1993, Colin Ferguson from Jamaica started shooting passengers on a commuter train at random killing six and injuries 16 people; after he stopped to reload, the passengers restrained him. When appearing in court, he self-represented himself but the eyewitnesses and the prosecutor managed to convince the magistrate to sentence him to more than 200 jail terms in New York Attica Prison.

The critics of this case argue that he was not in his sane mind to stand trial hence the court was wrong to convict and sentence him (People v Ferguson248, N.Y App 1998).In the Poucell v Alabama, 287 U.S case, fourteen African youths were unfairly charged by the court for reportedly raping two white women, the case which was popularly known as the ‘Scottsboro case’ where within two weeks of arrest, they were convicted, tried and sentenced to death; the Supreme Court reversed this conviction.

In Indiana a defendant was found competent to self-represent but the trial court did not allow him to, even though he was competent. An attorney was appointed to represent him, but he was sentenced, following a Foreta, a similar case wherein it was held by the Supreme Court that the accused was competent to self-represent. The disposal of petty offenses; these cases guarantee that either a fine or a short jail term is imposed. Cases such as common traffic laws and breaking of local regulations fall into this category.

DiscussionThe Preliminary hearing is where the magistrate hears the state’s case and determines if it can appear before the grand jury or not. The functions of grand jury include: preventing baseless, discriminatory and overzealous charges by examining hearings and evidence presented before it. The grand jury also has power to order the witnesses to appear before it, issue immunity or hold the individuals in contempt. The jurisdiction and venue: before a court hears a case and rules, it acquires jurisdiction over the subject matter and state, then determines the place where the case will be heard. The U.S Constitution requires the venue to be in the state where the crime was caused unless the defendants decide otherwise.

Sometimes it may be difficult to determine the venue, for instance if the accused has fired across the border line of two districts killing someone, the court must resolve this jurisdiction considering the relevant statutes and precedents. Sometimes, the defendant stands accused of several cases arising from one set of facts, each offense may be judged separately but it’s more efficient to judge them jointly, a situation known as joinder and severance. Where two or more related offenses are charged in a single indictment or information the court may grant a severance of the charges to achieve a fair judgment.

Mode of pretrial release: it takes various forms; the first one is personal recognizance, where the accused accepts some restrictions, release to the custody of another where the court may release the defendant to the care of a responsible person, posting an individual bond where the defendant posts a bond agreeing to appear in court as required. The final form is posting a surety bond where a premium is paid by a third person who agrees to post a bond for the defendant (Scheb, 2011). More than 90% of felony suspects plead guilty or do not contest, through an agreement met by the defense and prosecutor that results in reduction of the harshness of the judgment, this is known as the plea bargaining.

The defendant has the right for the case to be solved through a public appointed counsel within the shortest time possible, this is the right to a speedy trial. The federal law requires the arrested defendant to be brought before the court without delay.ConclusionThe U.S. Constitution gives every suspected person the right to be treated as not guilty until the magistrate rules otherwise as per the amount of evidence provided before him or her, with equal chance given to both the prosecutor and the defendant, with the hearing passing through various stages, forms and the courts having their designed functions.

Work citedScheb, J. M. & Scheb, J. M. (2011). Criminal law and procedure. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.