Essay on Courtroom Procedures and the Role of the Prosecution

JEAN RIMBACHEmail: "2 RETURN TO COUNTY COPS AFTER ACQUITTAL." Record (Bergen County, NJ). 2014, June 07: L1.

In fact, according to http://www.ducksters.com/ “A trial by jury is when a number of people hear the case and decide together if the defendant is guilty. The amendment doesn't say exactly how many people need to be on a jury. The Supreme Court, however, has said that there needs to be at least six people on a jury. Most juries today in the United States have twelve members.” This means that the jury is just a bunch of random people that have heard about the case that hear what he has to say and decide if he’s guilty.

Before the trial even starts, there are several things that have already happened. The first is the arrest of the charged person. The person is arrested by police, or he/she turns himself/herself in, based on one or more charges that have been brought against the person. The person must then make an initial appearance before a judge. The person must be arraigned in a timely fashion and the defendant must then enter a plea at that hearing. If the defendant pleads guilty, there is no need for a criminal trial as the person is admitting that they are guilty (Nolo, 2012).

Often, forty or fifty people will be summoned for a 12 person jury. The process of selecting who will make up the jury is called voir dire, which involves getting rid of potential jurors who would not be fair or impartial. Prosecutors and defense attorneys can strike for cause a potential juror for several reasons, such as bias or prejudice, an unlimited number of times. They also have a limited number of peremptory challenges, which allows them to get rid of a juror without needing to have a valid reason to do so. Once all challenges the attorneys can utilize have been exhausted, the judge will assemble the petit jury and will generally select alternate jurors as

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)

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

I attended the District Court at 201 West Picacho Ave on March 7, 2011. I sat in on judge Mike Murphy's court. Judge Murphy started court promptly at 9:00 a.m. but before I got into the court I had to wait in a long line of about 30 people. then when I finally got to the court house door I had to go through a metal detector where I had to take off my belt and shoes and everything metal on my persons. Then I asked one of the officers working the metal dictator how I could ask to sit in on a criminal court that was going on this morning. She then directed me to court room four. I asked the bailiff if it was ok for me to sit in on court today for my criminal justice class, and if the case where criminal matters. The bailiff then told me that

The two basic types of courts in the United States are trial courts and appellate courts. These two types of courts have two entirely different functions. The job of a trial courts is to determine questions of fact. Appeals courts, on the other hand, must determine questions of law. Appellate courts have the right to overrule jury verdicts and judges decisions due to the fact that an appellate court typically concerns itself solely with issues of law. An appeal is not the time to retry the case or to reargue the facts. In civil matters, either party can appeal the decision of the trial court. Usually in criminal matters, however, only the defendant may appeal a criminal conviction and the state is not

In the American Criminal Justice System, there are four key attributes in the role of the prosecutor. There are discretion, resource dependence, sequential tasks, and filtering. The prosecutors are lawyers that are accountable for presenting criminal cases in trial. The United States Attorneys are pointed by state or government, and represent the federal government in courts. They prosecute all adults who commit felonies and juveniles who commit delinquent crimes. Conjointly, the prosecutors have further responsibilities, such as legal adviser of the country commissioners, the Board of Elections, and written admonition of the prosecutors.

The due process and crime control models, both created by Stanford University law professor Herbert Packer, represents two opposing method of principles functioning within criminal justice system. Although the models describe the important facets of the politics and practice of criminal justice, both have been criticized since presented by Packer in 1964. Presently both models are acknowledged as imperfect standards to explain the politics and law of criminal justice. The crime control ideal represents traditional principles, whereas the due process belief reflects moderate values; therefore generating conflict evident throughout the years. This paper discusses models, crime control and due process, and how each affects the criminal

For my observation, I chose to observe a civil case that had to do with a divorce. I did some research on the cases, and chose one that was similar to an experience I went through. My parents are currently separated, and my father simply refused to pay child support. He lives outside of the state, so it was hard for my mother to have face to face confrontation with him. She got tired of raising three kids on her own, and finally decided to take him to court. I was required to serve as a witness. This took place in 2009, so I was thirteen years old and didn’t really understand much of what was going on. I timidly walked to the stand and was sworn in. I then answered the questions the attorney asked me.

Criminal procedures are safeguards against the indiscriminate application of criminal laws and the wanton treatment of suspected criminals. Specifically, they are designed to enforce the constitutional rights of criminal suspects and defendants, beginning with initial police contact and continuing through arrest, investigation, trial, sentencing, and appeals. The main constitutional provisions regarding criminal procedure can be found in Amendments IV, V, VI, and XIV to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court for the first time began to extend the protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights to exercises of power by state and local governments.

A jury trial is made up of twelve citizens of the community who have been randomly selected to serve on the jury. The jury had been given the authority to judge the facts of the case, and them apply the law that was given by the judge to those facts, and render a verdict of guilty or not guilty.

A panel of jurors must be selected to appear before the court (usually about 50 or so persons strong) from which the array (final jury number) is to be selected.

complaint was either files by a citizen or by following an arrest made by the