Legal and Justice Book

Posts Tagged ‘Criminal justice’

Criminal justice in the United States is a process consisting of five distinct stages. Any understanding of the criminal justice system requires at least a general understanding of the associated stages.

Investigation

The initial stage of criminal justice is investigation of an alleged crime. Various local, state and federal law enforcement agencies take part in investigating such allegations.

In some instances, agencies from different levels of government work together on the same criminal investigation.

A referral is made from a law enforcement agency to a prosecuting authority (a district attorney, state attorney or U.S. attorney, for example) upon a determination that a crime occurred and there is evidence that a certain person committed it.

Criminal Charge

Once an allegation of criminal conduct is turned over to a prosecuting attorney, he reviews the evidence and the statements of law enforcement officials.

He determines whether probable cause exists to support a formal criminal charge against the suspect.

Prosecution

Once a crime is charged, the prosecution of a case begins. It can take several possible courses. A trial represents the ultimate phase of the prosecution stage in the criminal justice system.

Through a trial, a defendant is found guilty or not guilty of the charge. In the alternative, during this stage of criminal justice, cases resolve through plea negotiations between the defendant and her counsel and the prosecuting attorney. Read the rest of this entry »