Criminal Justice System: Case Study

The Judge, who is usually a local Judge or a practicing attorney, calls the defendant to the witness stand, swears him/her in, and then the Teen Court clerk reads the charge.

The family has been determined indigent for services. Samkisha has received public defender services for her criminal matters and Mrs. Beale has received Medicaid since she was 16 years of age. Mrs. Beale disclosed she is court ordered to receive child support in the amount of $202 per month from Mr. Robinson for Samkisha, but stated he seldom make payments of such. She also reported she receives unemployment in the amount of $204 per week and Social Security Income (SSI) for Samkisha in the amount of $670 per month.

The court system is made up of a judge, prosecutor, and a defense attorney. After the police have made an arrest and conducted their investigation the offender will have to seek a judge for their sentencing determination. Before the offender sees a judge, the prosecutor must file legal charges based on the evidence given by the arresting officer and the defense attorney, who is for the offender, will add his professional analysis of the crime to help protect the offender when being sentenced. After charges are filed the case will be presented to a judge who will then determine the necessary sentencing for the

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

Arraignment: This happens after an indictment has been made by the grand jury. During arraignment the defendant is informed of his/her charges, defense attorney says whether defendant is guilty or not guilty.

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)

In court, I observed an arraignment. An arraignment is an appearance in court to hear the charges and to make a plea. Before they appeared at their arraignment they were supposed to go through the steps of the criminal justice system. First, there was an investigation, an arrest, and booking. If the suspect was a juvenile, they would go into the juvenile justice system. Next is the prosecution; charging, initial appearance, preliminary hearing, and indictment or information. During charging, the prosecution attorneys are the link between police and the court; they must decide if there is reasonable cause to believe an offense was committed, they either are released or have an initial appearance. At the initial appearance, they are brought before a judge, given a formal notice of charges, advised of their rights, and given a chance to post bail. If not enough evidence has been produced, the judge will dismiss the case and if there is enough evidence, they will move on to a preliminary hearing. The preliminary hearing allows a judge to decide whether there is probable cause

The criminal justice system is a gratifying, yet often unfair ruling process. Having said that, a first-rate example of a disapproving situation is when a person(s) of African American decent receives severe punishment for a particular offense, as opposed to what a person of Caucasian decent might acquire for the same offense. My topic of choice is from the ACLU's web page via an article entitled "Race and Criminal Justice", certainly peaked my curiosity. Being a young man with a group of friends consisting predominantly of minorities, this article stuck to my brain by bringing back tons of déjà vu. An acquaintance of mine left for court, accused stealing headphones at a local Walmart with a friend. One of the court hearings was for stolen

If the grand jury (group of citizens) decides there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, they issue an indictment whose individual is notified and must appear in superior court on the arraignment date, the first court date.

In the United States, the criminal justice system is a combination of laws and institutions. Laws are to be enforced in order for society to work appropriately as a whole. The many institutions of the criminal justice system include law enforcement, juvenile and adult courts, and correctional facilities. It is a unique system that has developed a specific process to serve justice. It is however, a process that is not without its faults. In order to protect and serve the many different faces of society, the process is structured to ensure the justice system continues to flow in the proper direction. Throughout this paper, I will summarize all the steps between arrest, pre-trial, trial, and appeals. I will explain the contingencies for each stage

In the criminal justice system there is very rarely a single linchpin that can be pointed to and held responsible for the failure to convict a seemingly guilty person. This reigns true for the very public prosecutions of both Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman. In the eyes of a vast majority of the public, fueled by media spectacle and opinion, Anthony and Zimmerman were guilty even before they ever saw the inside of a courtroom. There simply could be no other answer. The public was subsequently outraged when, after what seemed to be trials of certainty, juries acquitted each. The public sought to find someone, or something to blame. The verdict could not be accepted and many turned their focus to condemn the workings of the criminal

An initial appearance is the first contact with the judge that a person has after committing a crime where they are quickly reviewed on the charges being made against them, their bail options, constitutional rights among other court information. During the initial appearance, the judge provides the defendant with a criminal complaint copy. In the copy, the charge or charges are listed with the maximum probable penalty in case of conviction. It is also at the initial appearance that the judge makes the first likely cause determination. In other words, the judge scrutinizes the complaint to gauge whether if the claims made by the State surely confirm if the defendant committed the offenses that he is charged for. The judge also enlightens the defendant of his /her right to counsel, especially if he/she is not represented y an attorney. When a defendant is in charge with felonies, then the judge enlightens him/her preliminary hearing right (Lorch, 2010).

How does a case get considered for review? Usually, it just takes an application. LIke on the www.law.umich.edu/clinical/innocenceclinic/page. There is an application to file out and submit to the unit for review. Family, the party convicted, friends or just someone who feels the person is innocent, can submit the

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

Initial hearing or arraignment, this is the first court appearance where a formal reading of felony or misdemeanor charges will be presented by a judge or magistrate and bail will be determined. The formal reading is also known as a complaint and the appointed judge will identify the specific charge(s) and the maximum penalty if found guilty (Nichols, n.d). Once the complaint is read, the defendant will be provided the opportunity to obtain a court appointed attorney under the Sixth Amendment if one has not already been provided. It is worth noting that during arraignment; if misdemeanor charges are identified then the defendant has the opportunity to enter a plea of guilty, not guilty or no contest (Nichols, n.d.). Under misdemeanor charges,