Courtroom Group Essay Example for Free

Courtroom Group Essay In the following essay will talk about the participants in a courtroom. How do they work on a daily basis and what changes would I recommend. Also what is the role of the prosecutor? How does a prosecutor determine which cases to pursue? Also what are some solutions to backlog of cases? According to Schmallager (2011), criminal trial participants are dividing in two categories that are professionals and outsiders. The professional are the people who work in the courtroom. They are well trained to conduct the business of the court; for example; prosecuting attorneys, judges, defense attorneys and others who work in the courtroom falls into this category. They are also known as courtroom work group. The outsiders are those who temporarily are involved with the court, but they are not familiar with the court organization and procedures. Outsiders include jurors and witnesses, also defendants and victims. Judges has primary duty. It is describe as follows: the judge is responsible for the right of the individual and the interest of the administration of criminal justice. The purpose of the criminal trial is to be sure the prosecution has established the law as required. Judges holds the ultimate authority and ruling in law. The defense is the attorney that specialized in criminal law. He is responsible of representing the accused after being arrested and make sure his or her rights are not violated during the process. As a good reader I would recommend the courtroom group to lower the work load. What I mean is to try to hear less case a day, but I understand that criminal cases have increased tremendously. According to Schmallager (2011), the prosecutor is called the district attorney, state’s attorney, and commonwealth attorney, county attorney or solicitor. The prosecutor’s role is to protect the right of the public. The prosecutor represents the entire community, attempting to ensure their safety from the wrongful actions of criminal. The goal protective responsibility plays out in the context of the criminal trial, from the contemplation of initial changes before the trial, the activities during the trial, and through post-trial sentencing recommendations. Prosecutors are elected to serve during four years with the possibility of continuing. Prosecutors supervise a group of assistants who are district attorneys and does most in-court work. The prosecutor role is to advise the local police departments. Prosecutors are sensitive when it comes to the kind of information they need to conviction, they help with the police investigation and help detective identify witnesses and evidence. This role is limited. At the time of the trial the prosecutor presents the state’s case against the defendant. They introduce the evidence against the accused and argue in favor of the conviction. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty. Before a case comes to trial, the prosecutor has to decide if accept a plea bargain, for example; divert the accused to a private or public social service, ask the suspect to look for counseling or dismiss the case for lack of evidence. Prosecutor play significant role before grand jury. Some states use the grand jury depend on the evidence the prosecutor brings before them. The prosecutor decides which witness to call. The prosecutor does not end with the finding guilt or innocence. They are allowed to make sentencing recommendations to the judge. They can argue the accused criminal record. The prosecutor responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that an advocate; the prosecutor duty is to look for justice, not merely to convict. The responsibility has specific obligations, is to see if defendant is accorded procedural justice and guilty is decided upon sufficient evidence. Usually a prosecutor tries to prove that the accused is guilty of an offense to determine based on beyond the reasonable doubt is the case pursued. According to Smith (2010), the criminal justice funnel refers to a number of cases that still haven’t being resolved until a percentage has to be through trials. The criminal justice funnel is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Some cases might be dismissed while others are required to go for counseling. Another way of explaining the criminal funnel is to say that there are more crimes than inmates. This process has its limitation of amount of offenders incarcerated and in court. The result of the funnel justice is a small numbers of criminal researching for trial. The decreased of people incarcerated and trials the criminal justice system would save money and man hours. The less serious crime offenders are given probation, where they are incarcerated for another violation or committing another crime. Many of the cases are dismissed due to the lack of evidence or pleas are bargained. In conclusion the criminal funnel backlog is not just to setback of the judiciary. The backlog cases obstruct the access of justice which is considered the basic human rights. The backlog in a court means a heavy case which is not able to hear or try cases in a certain time manner because the cases docked is over the court capacity. References Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice today: An Introductory text for the 21 century (11th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix e-Books Collection database. Smith, A. (2010) what is Criminal Justice Funnel? Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/facts_6870601_criminal-justice-funnel_.html