Criminal justice process in the USA

Basically, the steps in the criminal court processes are as follows: arrest and booking, arraignment, trial and appeals.

A person who comes into contact with the criminal courts must initially be arrested. The arrest may take place with or without using a warrant (e.g. when an offense takes place in the presence of the officer, or when there is probable or reasonable cause to believe that a felony or misdemeanor has been committed. A felony is a serious offence punishable by death or imprisonment. A misdemeanor is a less serious offense punishable by a fine or up to one year in jail, or both). Even after an arrest the suspect may be released without being prosecuted for a variety of reasons: mistaken identity, lack of proper evidence, etc.

After the arrest is made, the suspect is booked. The booking card of the law enforcement agency contains information such as the date and time of arrest, the charge or crime for which the person was arrested, the name of the arrested person, the name of the arresting officer. Here the accused is photographed, fingerprinted, and temporarily released on bail, if possible. The record or booking card is permanently kept in the files of the police department. On important cases, the prosecutor may be present at the booking, but usually he will enter the case during the arraignment or initial appearance of the suspect before a magistrate or other judicial officer. Before turning to the prosecution of the suspect, it must be remembered that the investigative work of the police may continue even though the accused is involved with the prosecution or court phases of the criminal justice system.

At arraignment, summary trials can be held for petty offenses without further processing. During the initial appearance before a magistrate, a judge or a justice of the peace, the accused is to answer the charges against him. During the arraignment procedure, the charge may be dismissed by the court for a legal reason or the prosecutor may request to have the charges dropped. The initial appearance may also serve as the trial for minor offenses that have payment of a fine or a relatively short time in jail as punishment. Once the judge finds a verdict of guilt, the accused is sentenced to jail or payment of a fine. The defendant may also be placed on probation for a specified length of time. If sentenced to jail he may be granted parole.

The purpose of preliminary hearing in the lower court is to determine whether there is a reasonable cause to believe that a felony was committed and whether there is a reasonable cause to believe that the accused committed the crime. It is here that a preliminary testing of the evidence takes place. As a result the accused may be released because of having been arrested not for probable cause, or he may be placed on bail or moved back to jail until his case is tried by the higher court.

If there is a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed by the accused, the prosecutor is given statutorily defined number of days to file formal charges against the defendant. The charge is filed on the basis of information from citizen complaints and police investigations.

Then another arraignment is held. If the defendant pleads guilty a date for him to be sentenced is set by the judge. If the defendant pleads not guilty, he may request to have a jury trial or be tried by the court without a jury. At the trial, if the defendant is convicted, a date for sentencing is set.

Before imposing the actual sentence, an investigation by the probation officer takes place to assist the judge in deciding on a penalty. The defendant may be fined, sentenced to jail, or placed on probation. During this period the defendant can appeal his conviction. As a rule, the appeal stays the execution of the sentence. If the appeal is unsuccessful or the defendant decides not to appeal, the penalty is imposed. The defendant is then involved in the corrections of the criminal justice system. It is here that rehabilitation of offenders is supposed to occur. This is the purpose of correctional establishments.

To reduce the risk of convicting an innocent person, there are checks and reviews at all stages of the criminal justice system.

(Law Enforcement in a Democratic Society, E. Beckman)

Exercise 3.8. Make up correct word combinations out of the following and translate them:

A B

1. to commit 2. to plead 3. to release 4. to sentence to 5. to answer 6. to test 7. to contain 8. to hold 9. to try 10. to place on

a. the charges b. a case c. jail d. probation e. the suspect f. an arraignment g. guilty h. a felony i. evidence j. information

1. preliminary 2. correctional 3. reasonable 4. innocent 5. investigative 6. proper 7. booking 8. initial 9. mistaken 10. summary

a. card b. appearance a. person d. establishment e. identity f. trial g. hearing h. cause i. evidence j. work

Exercise 3.9. Fill in the gaps with necessary words or word combinations from the list given below.

1. _________ trials are usually held by a magistrate without a jury.

2. _________ is a serious crime such as murder, rape or robbery.

3. Police officers detained _________ for questioning about the case of kidnapping.

4. A _______ of every arrest must be made and shall include: the _______ for arrest; the time of the arrest; the time transferred to a place of ________; the time of _________ before a judicial authority; the _________ of officers involved; precise information on the place of ________; and details of _____________.

5. In assigning _________ the court shall take into account the character and degree of social ________ of the actions committed by the ________ person, the degree to which the criminal _________ is carried out.

6. A crime is an ________ act which may result in ________ and punishment by the state if ________ is convicted.

(Custody (2), felony, prosecution, punishment, the suspect, record, danger, interrogation, reason, guilty, appearance, illegal, identity, intention, summary, the accused)

Exercise 3.10. Read the text again to decide whether the following statements are true or false. Argue your decision.

1. The arrest of any person suspected in committing a crime can be exercised only by using a warrant.

2. The booking card includes all necessary information about an offender and the facts of detention.

3. The initial appearance isn’t used for court examination of serious crimes.

4. Evidence about a crime is firstly considered during preliminary hearing.

5. The prosecutor can make formal charges against the accused at any time.

6. The accused hasn’t the right to have the jury trial.

7. The corrections of the criminal justice system are used for the rehabilitation of offenders.

Exercise 3.11. Choose a), b) or c) to complete the following sentences.

1. The criminal procedure is initiated when a … has been committed.

a) wrong

b) felony

c) unusual act

2. When a person has committed a misdemeanor his punishment may be ….

a) a fine or one year imprisonment

b) life imprisonment

c) tortures

3. Booking means ….

a) defining the category of a crime

b) collecting necessary documents for trial

c) collecting the information about the offender, the facts and reasons for detention

4. Summary trials are held to try ….

a) felonies

b) misdemeanors

c) wrongful acts that aren’t criminal

5. The preliminary hearing is held to ….

a) identify a criminal

b) pass a sentence

c) determine the facts of the crime commission and examine evidence

6. If the offender has committed a felony he may request ….

a) an additional investigation

b) a trial by jury

c) the presence of two or more judges on trial

7. There are checks and reviews during the investigation and trial to ….

a) avoid a mistaken conviction

b) control police officers’ inquiry

c) mitigate a sentence

Exercise 3.12. Choose the meaning of the word used in the text“Criminal Justice Process in the USA”.

1. the suspect

a. something or someone that is suspect cannot be trusted or believed

b. someone or something that is likely to do or cause something, especially something bad

c. someone who the police believe may have committed a crime

2. record

a. the best achievement so far in a particular activity, especially sport

b. information kept about something that has happened

c. a large round black piece of plastic containing music or other sounds

3. charge

a. an amount of money that you have to pay, especially when you visit a place or when someone does something for you

b. an official statement accusing someone of committing a crime

c. an attack by people or animals running very fast towards someone or something

4. execution

a. the act of killing a person as a punishment for a crime

b. the act of completing something that you have agreed or planned to do

c. the process of making a computer run a program or carry out an instruction

5. summary

a. done immediately and without following the usual methods or processes

b. brief; giving the chief points only c. done or given without delay or attention to

small matters, especially concerning the

justice system

6. identity

a. who a person is or what something is

b. the qualities that make someone or something what they are and different from other people

c. the fact of being exactly the same

Exercise 3.13. Answer the following questions on the text “Criminal Justice Process in the USA”.

1. What are the main stages of the criminal court processes?

2. When may the arrest take place?

3. What document is necessary to arrest a person?

4. What’s the difference between felony and misdemeanor?

5. What information does the booking card contain?

6. Who may be present at the booking?

7. When can summary trials be held?

8. What must the accused do during his initial appearance before a magistrate?

9. What may the initial appearance serve for?

10. What’s the difference between probation and parole?

11. Why is preliminary hearing held?

12. What consequences may occur for the accused after preliminary hearing?

13. Who files formal charges against the defendant?

14. When may the defendant request to have a jury trial?

15. What kinds of punishment are statutorily applied?

16. What is the purpose of correctional establishments?

Exercise 3.14. Read the text “Trial in the United Kingdom” and make comments on it.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16