Criminal Justice Process for a Felony Criminal Charge in a State Court - Research Paper Example

Criminal Justice Process for a Felony Criminal Charge in a Court No: Criminal Justice Process for a Felony Criminal Charge in a State Court If a person commits a crime by violating the state law, he / she may be prosecuted under the law of the land. Usually in the United States of America, prosecuting attorney deals with the case. The state is bound to prove the guilt or a crime committed by the defendant on the basis of concrete evidence beyond any reasonable doubt. The defendant is absolved from the burden of proof since presumed innocent until the case is decided by the court. The pre trial stages identified herein below for felony cases will enable the readers to understand the criminal justice system of the United States of America from investigation to an appeal (Koster, 2009). On a written complaint to the police by the victim, it is incumbent upon the police to investigate the matter. As a result of police investigation, if it is found prima facie that crime has been committed, the police may arrest the suspect on the basis of warrant of arrest issued by the judge. The police after completion of its investigation shall submit its investigation report to the office of District Attorney. The prosecuting attorney will review the investigation report to determine whether to suspect will be connected with the crime or not (Steury & Frank, 1996). If suspect connects with the crime, he / she may be sent to the prison. He / she remains in the prison until the case is decided by the competent court of law. If released on bail, the release agreement will sign by the accused criminal. The release agreement contains the conditions that accused will appear in the circuit court on due dates of hearings, will not leave the place of residence without the court permission and will not intimidate the victim in any manner whatsoever. If the defendant contacts victim, the victim has the right to report the matter to the court release officer for taking necessary action. The release agreement will be effective until the court decides the case (Walklate, 1989). The case starts when charge document against an accused is filed by the district attorney. Charge document may be in the form of complaint, information or indictment. A crime comes under the ambit of felony where one can get imprisonment for a period of more than a year. The crime committed under the felonies is manufacturing, delivering and possessing of drugs, theft, burglary, sexual assault etc. However, misdemeanor crimes (harassment, menacing and trespassing) are those where an accused cannot get sentence of incarceration of more than a year (Walklate, 1989). First appearance of a defendant in a state court after arrest to hear formal charges against him is called arraignment. The defendant after hearing charges enters a plea. The district attorney shall not have a word with the defendant for a resolution before appearance in the court. The charges leveled against the accused by the police may be different of that reviewed and leveled by the prosecuting district attorney. The defendant has the right to engage an attorney of his / her choice to plead the case. Otherwise, court appoints an attorney to plead the case if defendant unable to afford the expense of an attorney. In misdemeanor cases the court allow plea at the time of arraignment. In most felony cases court does not enter plea before preliminary hearing before grand jury (Walklate, 1989). At the initial hearing, the state is bound to come up with concrete evidence against the defendant to prove guilt. The defendant may set aside his / her right of preliminary hearing and ready to face the grand jury. The grand jury in fact comprised of seven notable citizens, which examine whether the state has sufficient evidence to prosecute the defendant or not. The court asks the defendant whether he / she plead guilty or not guilty. If admits guilty the court sentence the accused without going to trial. If does not admit guilty the court proceedings begins against the defendant. The nominated victim(s) and the witness (es) summons to testify. On the basis of evidence(s) if defendant found guilty he / she be sentenced by the court as deem fit and proper (District Attorney’s Office, 2011). The district attorney and the defense attorney have the prerogative to determine the commission of crimes on the basis of evidence and the criminal history of the accused. This process is called pre trial negotiations. In the United States of America, majority of the cases have been resolved through pre trial negotiations. Reportedly, the percentage of settled cases through pre trial negotiations comes to 95% (Steury & Frank, 1996). Criminal cases are filed by the federal or state government to prosecute and punish the violators of criminal laws. Murder, theft, burglary, drug trafficking are few examples of violations of criminal laws. In criminal cases, if an accused is found guilty by the jury / court, he / she will receive jail sentence or to bear the cost and expenses incurred by the victim in consequence of the punishment of the crime (Steury & Frank, 1996). Trial begins at the court when pre trial negotiation proved futile. Defendant has the right for a speedy trial provided he / she remain in prison. The trial court has to decide the case within 60 days from the day of arrest of an accused except in murder cases. The trial goes on even the accused admitted his / her guilt. The court requires the state to prove the case “beyond any reasonable doubt” about the commission of the crime. During the trial, the defense and the prosecution attorneys must be present in the court to fulfill the procedural requirement as per law (District Attorney’s Office, 2011). (If an accused charged and punished under demeanor cases, he / she may settle or initiate civil compromise by paying off all cost and expenses incurred with the entire satisfaction of the victims in writing. Under the mentioned settlement the court may discharge the case. In civil compromises prosecuting attorney has no role to play. The court decision in this respect will be final and binding on litigants (Steury & Frank, 1996). Punishment is awarded by the circuit court in the felony cases if an accused proved guilty. The judge while deciding the case takes into account nature of crime and the background of and accused. Punishment can also be effective on the admission of guilt by an accused at the process of guilty / not guilty. The prosecuting attorney may recommend the punishment but the decision of the court to punish the culprits is final (District Attorney’s Office, 2011). In the US, most of the cases are settled down by way of probation, which is monitored by community correction department, by paying off cost and expenses as claimed by the victims, by providing community service to undergo drugs and alcohol treatment, some are to spend their terms in county prison if period of sentence is less than one year (District Attorney’s Office, 2011). The appeal against the decision of trial court can be filed by attorneys in appellate courts. The appellate court will receive the records of trial from trial court with all rulings that were instrumental in deciding the case. The defendant attorney will file brief of the case in the appellate court outlining why conviction was affected by legal lacunas. Conversely, prosecution witness will file brief justifying the decision of the court was fit and appropriate (Walklate, 1989). In case of reverse decision, the appellate court refers back the matter to trial court for its retrial. With this move, original trial becomes in fructuous. Hence, it is the prosecuting attorney to decide in favor of refilling the case or to drop the charges against the defendant. The Appeals in the high court i.e. state or federal court will not file the same attorney who pleaded the case in the appellate court. In the US judicial system, usually lawyers who have the experience and expertise can file an appeal. The appeal process may differ from state to state. If an appeal requires constitutional interpretations, then it will be jurisdiction of state federal appellate court and eventually be the Supreme Court of United States of America (Walklate, 1989). It is the burning desire of the American Society to reduce the crime rate in America, which is now five times of any industrialized nations. It means that there is a lot to do with criminal justice process to provide justice and fair play to all and sundry. Only strict criminal laws cannot minimize the crime rate until and unless it should be addressed in the perspective of social justice (Lozoff, 2011). We all agree that criminal justice system is necessary for our safety and security and to maintain law and order situation. Hence, it is quite natural that it should meet all the requirements to meet common objectives. It has the capability to purge criminals from innocent, to disarm dangerous individuals, create deterrence for others and to award exemplary for the lawbreakers. At the same time, we expect that the justice and fair play should be even handed. We also expect that the criminal laws and the criminal justice system to be fair, impartial and even-handed. The system in question should assist in rehabilitating the offenders who have completed their sentence. Their rehabilitation and re-entrance in the society to live as law-abiding citizens would help themselves to keep away from criminal activities. References American Bar Association. (2008). Criminal Justice System Improvements. Retrieved on November 6, 2011 from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/poladv/transition/2008dec_crimjustice.authcheckdam.pdf District Attorney’s Office. (2011). Criminal Case Process. Retrieved on November 6, 2011 from http://www.co.washington.or.us/DistrictAttorney/CriminalProsecution/criminal-case-process.cfm Koster, Chris. (2009). The Court Process. Retrieved on November 6, 2011 from http://ago.mo.gov/publications/courtprocess.pdf Lozoff, Bo. (2011). Seven Ways to Fix the Criminal Justice System. New Renaissance 5 (3). Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from http://www.ru.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=184 Steury, Ellen Hochstedler & Frank, Nancy. (1996). Criminal Court Process. New York: West Publishing Company. Walklate, Sandra. (1989). Victimology: the victim and the criminal justice process. New York: Routledge. Read More