US Criminal Law: A Murder from the Perspective of US Criminal Law - Case Study Example

US Criminal Law: A Murder from the Perspective of US Criminal Law Introduction Criminal law or criminal justice system is the practice performed by the law and order institutions of governments in order to uphold the social control with the intention of deterring and mitigating crime. The institutions sanction criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts to those who found and proved to be guilty in violating the described law for checking the criminal offense. However, under the litigation of criminal law the accused also has the right to protect themselves from any kind of abuse during the investigation and prosecution period by the concerned authoritative bodies. In the United States 1967 President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice guides the criminal justice policies. This commissioned body had issued a ground breaking report named as The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. This ground breaking report has made more than 200 recommendations in the in the US criminal justice policies, which is a part of a comprehensive approach that is focused towards fighting and prevention of crime in the country. Interestingly few of those recommendations have made their way into the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The President Commission has advocated that the approach of the system towards criminal justice has improved coordination between the law enforcement, courts, and correctional agencies (Walker, 1992). The Commission also defined the criminal justice system as the mean for the society to enforce the necessary standards of conduct in order to protect the community as well the individuals1. The committed crime The crime committed was murder of Ms. Lucy Lane and Mr. Rodney Hill at 114 Front Street, which was reported to Emergency Call Center of 911 by Mr. Wolf residing at 115 Front Street. The initial suspect is Mr. James Lane, the ex-husband of Ms. Lane, in whose apartment blood stained knife and blood soaked clothes were discovered. Based on these evidences Mr. Lane is taken into custody and charged with double murder2. System Components American criminal justice system There are five system components in any criminal justice system and American Criminal Justice System is nothing different. It also has five system components, which are as follows: Law Enforcement – The officers of this body are responsible to take report of the crimes in their areas, investigate crimes, gather and protect evidences (Cole, Smith & Dejong, 2014). They also have the right to arrest the offenders. Prosecution – This process is carried out by the prosecutors who represent the state or federal government. The prosecutor remains involved throughout the court proceedings until the accused is acquitted or sentenced for the proven crime (Eaton, 2010). Defense Attorneys – They are the attorneys or lawyers who argue in favor of the accused against the government. They are either hired by the defendant or assigned by the court. Courts – This is the place of justice that is run by the judges whose prime responsibility is to ensure that law is followed in the court room and oversee the trial proceedings (Rustad & Koenig, 2002). Judges have the right to accept or reject the plea agreements, oversee the undergoing trials and pass on the judgment to sentence the convicted offender. Corrections – There are correction officers who have the responsibility to supervise the convicted offenders in prison or in the rehabilitation centers. In some communities the correction officers are responsible to prepare pre-sentencing reports that contains the background report of the convict helping the judge to decide the sentence (Alexander & Alexander, 2011). The Criminal Justice Process The criminal justice system follows a sequential process (Skolnick, 2011). This section of the essay provides the sequence of the criminal justice system that the offender Mr. James Long will go through that begins with his arrest after police searched his apartment and discovered the blood-stained lock-knife and Mr. Lane’s clothes from the basement that were soaked in blood of Ms. Lucy Lane and Mr. Rodney Hill3. However, there are chances the process may vary depending on jurisdictions in which 114 Front Street, the crime spot belongs to. a. Entry into the System Report, Investigation & Arrest – Upon receiving a crime report from victim or witness or any other sources the law enforcement officers start their investigation about the reported crime in which the victims Ms. Lucy Lane and Mr. Rodney Hill lost their lives. In due process of investigation the officers try to gather as many evidence as possible and identify a suspect (Neubauer & Fradella, 2013). The prime suspect here is Mr. James Lane, whom Mr. Wolf had seen driving away from the crime scene. The enforcement officers have enough evidence to arrest Mr. Lane, which is the first step in the process. b. Prosecution and Pretrial Charges – In the next step the suspect will face charges. Based on the evidences discovered in the apartment of Mr. Lane by the enforcement officers prosecutor will file the formal charges of murder on Mr. Lane4. First Court Appearance – After filing the formal charges by the prosecutor against Mr. Lane, he will be produced in the court for the first time as part of prosecution and pre-trial in order to let him know about the charges and his rights. As a part of this process the judge will decide whether there are enough evidences to hold Mr. Lane in police custody or to release him. Bail or Bond – During the first court appearance the judge may decide whether to hold Mr. Lane in police custody or release him on bail or bond or sometimes under own Recognizance (OR), which is the condition where Mr. Lane has to promise to return to the court for any legal proceedings regarding the murder case. If Mr. Lane is released on OR the judge will not impose a bail on the ground that Mr. Lane does not appear to be a flight risk to the society (Garland, 2012). The deep background information report on Mr. Lane will help the judge to take the final decision. Grand Jury or Preliminary Hearing – During the trial period Mr. Lane will have the right to have his case heard by a grand jury. This grand jury is the jury of citizens who would hear the arguments and evidences produced by the prosecutor and decide if there are enough evidences that can indict Mr. Lane of the crime (Surette, 2014). Arraignment – In this process the defendant, Mr. Lane, would either pleads guilty or not guilty or no contest, which is admitting the crime with acceptance of sentence and does not admit the guilt. There will be no trial in the scenario if Mr. Lane pleads guilty or no contest. But if Mr. Lane pleads not guilty a date will be set for the trial. However, Mr. Lane has the right to file a plea agreement. In that scenario there will not be any trial on the prosecution of Mr. Lane if the plea agreement is negotiated in the court. c. Post-Trial Sentencing – This post-trial process involves handing over sentence to the accused and the judge would have a range of choices depending upon the crime that the accused has committed (Bennette & Feldman, 2014). In this scenario Mr. Lane is going to get the severe punishment for the crime that he committed5. The crime that Mr. Lane has committed is murder. The sentence that Mr. Lane will receive for the crime depending upon the argument in the court and the investigation report submitted by the police whether the murder was voluntary or involuntary or first-degree or second-degree murder. Mr. Lane’s sentence may vary from life imprisonment to death penalty. Analysis of the criminal justice process When analyzing the American adult criminal justice process there are certain areas that caught attention. The weakest point that I could see in the process is that the justice system does not respond to most of the crimes rather to say cannot respond to most of the crimes because there are so much crimes that are not discovered or reported to the police or law enforcement agencies. However, in this scenario Mr. Wolf reported the crime as soon as he sensed something suspicious at Ms. Lucy Lane’s house across the street. The law enforcement agencies came to know about the crime and report them in the entry only when the victim or other citizens – witnesses – bring it to their notice. From the analysis in my opinion the strongest point is apprehending the suspect after preliminary investigation. Mr. James Lane was held for interrogation by the police based on the description provided by Mr. Wolf, who is a key witness in this murder case. Though Mr. Lane denied the charges during interrogation he was arrested based upon the evidences gathered by the police from his apartment. The justice system, precisely the law enforcement bodies, acted quickly and proactively. Analyzing the strongest and weakest points I would like to recommend quick action from the prosecutor in examining the evidences and decide upon filing the charges in front of the court of law without unnecessary delay. This would fasten the judiciary process and the judge can take the decision during the pre-trial process whether the evidences are enough to file the charges or the suspect could be released because of insufficient evidence. Conclusion The American criminal justice system has evolved from its earlier frames and has changed to a greater extent based upon the situation in the society (Robertson, 2013). The goal of the system is to minimize, if possible eradicate, the crime in the society. The research and analysis in this essay was focused on the steps involved in the criminal justice process. Though the subject is vast and has many viewpoints from different perspectives towards the subject the criminal justice process runs in sequence (Van Ness & Strong, 2013). There is no room for breaking this sequence as it will lead to unnecessary confusion and that might delay the process of justice. As far as the overall system is concerned it is the responsibility of the citizen of the country to have faith upon the judiciary system. Reference Walker, S. (1992). "Origins of the Contemporary Criminal Justice Paradigm: The American Bar Foundation Survey, 1953-1969". Justice Quarterly 9 (1): 47. doi:10.1080/07418829200091251. Cole, G., Smith, C., & DeJong, C. (2014). The American system of criminal justice. Cengage Learning. Eaton, D. K. (2010). Citations. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 59, 1-142. Rustad, M. L., & Koenig, T. H. (2002). Taming the tort monster: the American civil justice system as a battleground of social theory. Brook. L. Rev., 68, 1. Alexander, K., & Alexander, M. D. (2011). American public school law. Cengage Learning. Skolnick, J. H. (2011). Justice without trial: Law enforcement in democratic society. Quid Pro Books. Neubauer, D., & Fradella, H. (2013). America's courts and the criminal justice system. Cengage Learning. Garland, D. (2012). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. University of Chicago Press. Surette, R. (2014). Media, crime, and criminal justice. Cengage Learning. Bennett, W. L., & Feldman, M. S. (2014). Reconstructing reality in the courtroom: Justice and judgment in American culture. Quid Pro Books. Robertson, G. (2013). Crimes against humanity: the struggle for global justice. The New Press. Van Ness, D. W., & Strong, K. H. (2013). Restoring justice: An introduction to restorative justice. Newnes. Read More