We, as Americans, have the right to a trial by judge or a trial by jury; nonetheless, there are pros and cons for each of these choices. The pros and cons affect both the offender and the prosecutor.
When the offender is accused of an offence, he or she gets to choose if he or she wants to have a trial by judge or jury. For instance, take into account the evaluation of the pros for a trial by judge. When an offender chooses the trial by judge this allows the offender to direct more of their attention directly to the judge. This will allow the offender to place all their evidence and emotions onto the judge’s hands. When choosing a trial by judge the offender often defends their self, which could lead to a guilty verdict because the offender
Yes there’s danger prosecutors might illegitimate seek continuances by using speedy trial, by prosecuting the interest of the defense and society this is viewed as irrespective on weather the defendants interest are in jeopardy. In this case Barker could not be convicted unless his partner manning testified against him. By continuing with the trial an acquittal can only be beneficial to Barker. The right of speedy trial is more vague concept than other procedure rights. The right of speedy trials is relative, not absolute the test would be balancing the test would be balancing behaviors of the prosecutors and the defendants are weighted calling the delay extraordinary. The delay is associated with not many cases the court must procced.th defendant
The criminal trial process aims to provide justice for all those involved, while it succeeds in the majority of cases, it effectiveness is influenced and reduced by certain factors. These include the legal representation involved in a case and the availability of legal aid, the capacity of the jury assessing the trial, the credibility of scientific evidence and the impact of social media on the trial process. Due to such flaws the criminal trial process is not always an effective means of achieving justice.
There are many parts of the courtroom and the process of convicting a criminal. The courtroom work group has a major role in convicting and finalizing a case. In the courtroom work group, there are three groups of people that hold the entire courtroom together. Without the work group, the courtroom would not flow, and coming to a conclusion to the case would not be as easy. The work group is made up of the Judge, the Defense Counsel and the Prosecution. They work together to reach a result, in the case by staying in contact on a daily basis. There are many roles in the work group, and if they are not all followed through with then the results could be different than what they should be. In this paper, we will
But a jury trial is very expensive and time consuming. It is believed that because of the lack of legal education, the decisions will wholly be based on the emotional rather than the factual information. Jurors can also be biased towards a certain
The criminal courts are responsible for determining the guilt or innocence of the person that is accused (Griffiths, 2015, p.147). As well as the courts are supposed to conclude the appropriate sentence while protecting their rights of the accused. The outcome that comes from the criminal courts is that the judgement is made to be fair, impartial and no political intrusion. Furthermore, the main focus of the courts is the find the fundamental problems, the interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration and the accountability to the community. (Griffiths, 2015, p.147). The court is supposing to keep the fairness and equality through the society.
In America we have an Adversary System of Justice, which means that criminal trials proceed under the adversary theory of justice to arrive at the truth in a given case. One characteristic of this system is intensive cross-examination of both defense and prosecution witnesses. In a jury trial, it is for the jury, which observes these witnesses, to weigh the evidence and make the ultimate decision in every case—guilty or not guilty. However, not every case makes it to trial in fact, about 80% of defendants plead guilty allowing them to just be sentenced and not have to go through the whole process of a trial. Other cases are dropped, or dismissed if the prosecutor, or in some cases a grand jury, feels that there is insufficient evidence to carry on. Some defendants are sent to diversion programs, these individuals are often sent here because an official involved in the case believes that there is a better way to deal with a defendant than to prosecute them.
In America’s justice system, a grand jury is a group of citizens called to decide whether probable cause exists to believe that a suspect committed the crime with which she or he has been charged (Gaines G-4). In the Central District of California, prospective jurors who report and are not excused or postponed, the Jury Clerk will use a computer program to randomly select 23 members and ten alternates for each grand jury. A grand jury designated “investigatory” meet for a 12-month term, while a grand jury designated “accusatory” meets for a 6-month term. A grand jury has 23 members and meets once a week, always on the same weekday. Grand juries do not meet on weekends or Mondays. The average workday is 5 hours. Absences for medical appointments, vacations, graduations, etc. may be accommodated, but 16 members must be present for the grand jury to conduct business. The grand jury serves the United States District Court, Central District of California. In contrast, a trial jury is asked to reach a verdict based on the evidence presented during a civil or criminal trial; a grand jury meets in secret to consider whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a formal criminal charge against someone. That formal criminal charge is called an “indictment” (Central).
The major upside to having professional jurors is that they would be more likely to deliver good verdicts. In our current system, people are asked to understand the law without any training. They are given brief instructions by judges after a very long trial and then expected to apply complex laws. We should not expect jurors to understand those laws based on one short lecture from a judge. Therefore, having professional jurors would give us better verdicts more clearly based on the law. On the other hand, the bad part of this is the loss of citizen contribution. Jury trials exist so that common people can have an influence on the legal system. Our Founding Fathers did not want Americans to be tried and judged by legal privileged who
In today’s society of law it is preferable to have a jury trial than a bench trial. For many reasons a jury trial is preferable than a bench trial because there are 12 mind's that decide if the defendant is guilty or not. The defendant only needs one juror to save their life because it would be a hung jury. The jurors need to be 12 to zero to have the defendant guilty or not guilty. It is easier to have a jury a trial than a bench trial because in a bench trial the defendant has to look like they did the crime while in a jury trial 12 jurors are hearing the testimony and they could decide from there if the defendant is guilty or not. All the jurors need is a reasonable doubt to say the defendant is not guilty while the bench trial the judge
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 the Australian legal system, juries have been the subject of debate for many years. Should we have them for criminal trials or will justice be done better through trial by judge alone?
You have been charged with an either way offence this means that you will get the choice as to whether you trial your case at the Magistrates or Crown Court. In this report I will evaluate the effectiveness of lay people presenting their advantages and disadvantages. I will also evaluate the jury system. As I have explained either way offences can either be very serious or very minor, which is why they are tried at the Crown Court or Magistrates’.
Trial by Jury and Alternatives to It In order to decide whether or not trial by jury should or should not
To begin I will be discussing the pros and cons between a jury trial and bench trial. First of all a bench trial is where a jury is not present and the judge is the only ruler of all the matters of the law. The pros of having a bench trial is that it is a quicker process for matters that need to be resolved in a more timely matter. Bench trials also, tend to be less formal than jury trials. Plus since there is not a jury the prosecutor does not need to spend time going through the jury selection and instruction process. All in all the bench trial is a speeder option for the people. On the other hand there is some downfall to having a bench trial, which is that again there is only a judge no jury, so it comes down to only one person to be the
The function of the criminal courts in society is to control social order and protect the community. The criminal justice system is always changing because of updated laws. The criminal court has five components; the judge, the prosecutor, defendant lawyer, the defendant and the juror. Each component works together to provide the best result for both defendant and society. There are a few models inside the criminal court system that help depict the usefulness of how the courts work. Two of these models are the adversarial model and the second is the consensual model. The adversarial model is when the prosecutor and the defendant 's lawyer both speak before the judge and jury to show evidence pertaining to the defendant trying to prove innocence or guilt. In a consensual model, is where the prosecutor and defendant 's lawyer hash out the charges against the defendant and agree on an appropriate punishment. (Barken),pg 268 There are two more models inside the criminal court system that help portray the court 's efficiency this would be Due Process Model and the Crime Control Model, these solves the predicament confronted by the criminal courts to guarantee a person freedom and the need to protect the people. These two models comprise of analyzing crime and permitting the right justice to be conveyed. Due process method was intended to verify defendants had their rights ensured and that they had a reasonable opportunity to protect themselves in court. This model assumes that