The Criminal Justice Process
The Criminal Justice Process
In the criminal justice offenses that are punishable by death or incarceration for over a year or more is usually known as a felony offense. They are the most severe crimes. Prosecutors and the courts deal with felony cases in a different way than misdemeanor cases. In the criminal justice process for a felony criminal charge witnesses are not required for every step. Generally, the witnesses are told to show up to court only for a preliminary hearing, a witness conference, a grand jury hearing, or a trial. In my paper I will explain the entire criminal justice process for a felony charge filed in a state court, I will also analyze how constitutional protections for the defendant work at each stage of the proceeding, and I will explain how the system effectively deals with criminal prosecutions and the improvements that are needed. It is always a great idea to become familiar with the steps with either a felony or a misdemeanor case. Sometimes not all steps are taken in every case, sometimes most cases end even before reaching trial.
The first step is initiating charges by complaints. Some of the felony cases start when the United States Attorney along with a law enforcement officer files a criminal complaint before a Magistrate. The complaint is usually a statement full of enough facts that shows that probable cause that an offense was committed by the offender. Once the Magistrate approves the complaint, an arrest warrant is going to be issued for the offender. Most of the time, the offender could get arrested without the need of the warrant, when this happens the offender is then introduced to the Magistrate when the complaint is filed. The witnesses and the victims of federal offenses are interrogated by an officer before the...