Criminal Justice Process
Court stages
Arrest of the accused is the first step in a state court where the accused is taken in custody to answer felony charges against him or her. It is worth to note that it is the defense attorney who owns the responsibility of determining the kind of charges to be filed against the accused. There are a number of methods that can be used to bring the defendant to court, for instance issuing a warrant by the court to arrest the defendant. A written document may be sent to the defendant requesting him or her to report to the jail. The defendant can be put in custody and be taken to court or some other mechanism may be put in place to ensure that the defendant appears in court voluntarily. The consideration for the method to be used depends on the chances of defendant to flee, seriousness of the crime, and other dangers to the public. The above stage is very tricky incase a written document is written to the defendant requiring him or her to avail himself or herself in court to answer the charges. It is possible that the accused may flee if proper mechanisms are not put in place to track him or her, which may cause great insecurity in the area since the suspect may decide to become more hostile especially to the witnesses if they are the ones who led to the arrest. The powers vested in the attorney such as determining the charges to be filed against the accused may make the attorney to come up with well defined charges (Aiken, 2010).
The constitution process requires that during investigation process of a crime committed by a felony, the investigators should review all facts, interview the witnesses as well as gathering vital evidence against the suspect after which they may request the judge to issue an arrest warrant if they have sufficient evidence. It can be recommended that this is a proper channel for arresting a suspect and the constitution should aim at protecting the suspect until proved guilty.
After the arrest, the defendant is informed of all charges filed against him or her. At this stage, the defendant may be accepted to plead that he or she is not guilty and then the judge may decide if the accused can request a bail or be released on his own recognizance, where the judge may order terms of release such as drug testing. The bail offered depends on the seriousness of the case and possibility of the accused to flee. However this varies from state to state. For example, the city of Fulton court in New York does not accept plea for felony. Under some circumstances, offering a bail to defendants who are known for committing severe crimes with detailed criminal history may give them an opportunity to continue committing crimes. This may still pose a great danger to the society. There is need for the constitution to put into place well defined circumstances under which the defendant may be issued a bail because many defendants have used bail application to get an avenue of fleeing, thereby affecting and delaying the court proceedings.
After arraignment in court, a preliminary hearing for felony is then presented to the judge to decide if there is a genuine cause to believe that the accused stand a trial. At this stage, enough evidence is given to make the judge convinced that the defendant should be put on trial. If the judge realizes that there is enough evidence, he or she issues a holding order and plans are put in place for testifying by witnesses in the presence of the defendant. After preliminary hearing, the judge files the information and plans are put into place to arraign the defendant for the second round. The city of Fulton court also follows the same procedure where it holds preliminary hearings basing on testimony and all evidences presented and eventually the judge decides if a felony has been committed or not. Evidences provided by witnesses give a clear direction to be followed by the judge. The evidence helps in determining the verdict of the accused based on its validity to the case. The main challenge under this stage arises when the witnesses fail to provide sufficient information. It gives the judge hard time to come up with clear basis of proving the defendant guilty and this may see the defendant released by the judge.
The next stage is the grand jury indictment. The grand jury is a body consisting of community members who are given mandate to investigate felony allegations. The process provides the accused a chance to present his or her complaints as well as conducting preliminary examination. However, it is not commonly used. Indictment is information in the felony case listing charges alleged against a defendant. The process of indictment necessitates voting by grand jurors after the judge has presented all allegations in order to ascertain if the accused committed a crime or not depending on the majority votes. Indictment process by jury for a felony leaves a lot to be desired because their decision to accuse the defendant relies on votes of the majority. If the majorities are in favor of jailing the defendant, then there are high chances that he or she will be arrested and vice-versa. It should also be noted that some of the community members given the mandate to investigate allegations laid against the defendant may not be fully equipped with laws regarding felony cases. An individual convicted of a felony often have more restrictions on his or her rights. For instance, they may not be allowed to own a gun or work in military service. The constitution further states that if an individual is accused of a felony charges for three consecutive times he or she can be sentenced to life imprisonment. The constitution need to change this clause by indicating that such criminal should be hanged since they are notorious offenders.
After presentations have been made to the grand jury, the defendant is arraigned on the indictment in superior court where the attorney is given the responsibility to prove whether the defendant is guilty beyond reasonable doubts. This is common in California where cases involving felony or misdemeanor charges are put in the control of felony trial program. After indictment process, pre- trial hearings are conducted where the judge makes decisions on evidence that will be accepted and find out whether the available evidence is enough to enable him or her move to the next step. Jury trial in California for a criminal charged with felony charges is tried within sixty days of filling indictment unless the defendant waives the right. The California law provides an opportunity for the witness to testify for second time if there is need. Proceedings of a felony case may be determined by the attorneys position in the case. It requires a lot of professionalism so as to give the correct information. Incase the attorney intention is to arrest the defendant without giving accurate information, it may raise an alarm in the court as the defendant and his or her defense attorney may disagree with state attorneys information thereby calling upon the judge to listen to them. Mixed information makes the court proceedings to be postponed by the judge in search for more evidence.
In the process of continuing with the case motions or requests by the defense, prosecution may be made at anytime so that the judge may make a decision on disputed issues and come up with definite evidence that will be forwarded to a jury. However, significant requests are made before a case moves to trial stage. In pre- trial process information from police reports and statements made by witness are provided to defense to indicate if the accused is innocent or guilty. This stage is known as discovery stage which may be followed by issuing a document called a subpoena representing an order by the court requiring a witness to avail themselves in court at the specified time and place when there is need. Absence of witnesses may make the case to be delayed and therefore it is necessary for witnesses to avail themselves in court after receiving information from state attorney. Trying of the accused heavily relies on the available evidence. It is important that the judge deeply looks into all information provided by all participants in order to reach a conclusion that will not be biased to any side. However, absence of key witnesses may make the judge to use the limited information to make a verdict.
The reading of the verdict is yet another vital stage in a felony case. The stage involves the judge making a decision pertaining to the guiltiness or innocence of the accused. In circumstances where the defendant is proved guilty, he or she will be sentenced to punishment determined by the judge, and if he or she is not found guilty, he or she may be set free. In situations where a verdict is not reached, fresh trials may be done.
Before sentencing is done, the judge will carry out pre-sentence investigation and put into considerations various information such as circumstances of the offense, recommendations made by probation department, preparedness of the defendant and his or her background, defendants statement, and other evidences presented by the attorney in order to come up with an appropriate punishment for the defendant. A victim is allowed to communicate to the judge about the punishment he prefers. However in most felony charges, the judge may sentence the defendant to a term in state prison or put the defendant on a grant of probation of up to five years and given period of time on local county jail. The idea of the defendant requesting for the type of punishment to be passed on him or her makes the court system ineffective in dealing with major felony because. It is important that all major offenders are punished accordingly. Similarly, the constitution permits the defendant to plea so that the prosecutor could reduce the charges. For effective protection of the victims interests there is need for appropriate legal representation because effective method of disposing any case depends on the competency of the counsel.
If the defendant has been sentenced to state prison, he or she may be granted a parole before serving full sentence on defined terms which when violated he or she may be arrested and be returned to prison. Granting parole to defendant is important especially after putting into considerations a number of issues like health of the victim, his or her contribution to the economy, among others. At time, this may in turn be risky if the person granted a parole goes out and continues committing more offences privately because this will cause more instability in the society.
The final stage involves appealing by the defendant if he or she feels that the verdict passed was not fair. Appealing is common in both state and federal systems because it enable the Court of Appeal to follow another legal procedure to review the decision reached by an inferior court in a legal matter. The appeal may be done by the defense attorney or defendant. It is essential because it can lead to reversing, affirming or modifying court decisions. Appealing at times may lead to freeing a defendant who is very dangerous to the community. Since the process involves re-listening to the defendant possibly because to him the verdict made was not fair in his conscious, the defendant may use this opportunity to prove him or herself innocent for the second time even if he or she knows very well that he is guilty thus delaying other court proceedings.
There are other changes being made in the criminal justice process most especially in corporate counsel. Recently, contracts are offered to lawyers requiring them to keep records of services handled and the number of proceedings ever handled. However, the lawyers who contract with county corporate counsel has been related these push of change as a push for political ideology rather than providing appropriate criminal defense for defendants. Lawyers are also required to follow all court proceedings and making meetings with his or her client after arraignment so as to explain charges against him or her. The court has set a maximum of thirty felony cases for each defense lawyer so as to solve huge case load problems.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the criminal justice process is complex procedurally, so there is need to ensure that fairness is maintained in courts irregardless of variation in rules that governs criminal procedures in different court systems. The constitutions for different countries require observing due law process in all proceedings against defendants. The criminal justice process for a felony in both state and federal system entails observing all due process under the guidance of the constitutional laws. It is therefore important that all participants abide by the set standards in order to enhance confidence in the court process. For effective protection of the defendant in the entire criminal justice process there is need to consult with competent defense attorney to ensure that the defendant is protected.
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