The Defense Attorney's Role In The Criminal Justice System

Victims and Crime Evaluation
By Dechelle Clay
CJA/354
Kristen Mildenberger
December 23, 2013

There are many roles in the courtroom that each person plays and each role has its benefit for the criminal justice system as a whole. It is understandable that each role plays a part in the sentencing with the hope that justice is being served but with much intentions and seen all too well that everyone is not satisfied with the sentencing phase and may feel that justice has not been served and some may feel that it has. In the courtroom the roles of each person happens to be a part of case and the prosecutor, defense attorney, criminal, and victim all play a role. There are others that are a part of the role
in the court room who also play a valuable role and it is the judge, courtroom recorder, jury, and witnesses. It is understood the focus of the sentencing and who it may affect the most is the prosecutor, defense attorney, criminal and the victim. The role of the prosecutor is to make sure that there is enough evidence for the criminal to be convicted and with evidence the prosecutor takes the approach to convict the criminal and to bring closure for the victim. It may seem as if this phase would be the easiest for the prosecutor but it’s not an easy task and to deliver a sentence that would be fair to the victim, society, and the community by asking for a sentence that would be for the crime that the criminal had committed, in all cases for the prosecutor it is not true that the criminal will get the amount time that they intend for them to get, in a case dealing with rape when there is a victim involved and the criminal has all evidence against them and the victim testifies as well and the prosecutor ask for a mandatory 30 years and when it’s all over the defense attorney ask for a minimum of 15 years and the defense attorney wins and it leaves the victim as if no justice has been served and the prosecutor may feel as if he failed the victim but the role of the prosecutor is to convict the criminal but they have no guarantee that the sentence would be fair for the victim, the criminal, society and the community. The prosecutor always must keep in mind of the alternative sanctions in which the defense attorney will definitely try to get the best interest for the criminal. The defense attorney role is to try and make the criminal innocent and with much effort even when there is substantial evidence against the criminal the defense attorney is looking for the best well-being for the client and all alternative sanctions that may be in place for the criminal and if all else fails the defense attorney is looking for the less sentence as possible for the criminal and not to say that the defense attorney has no remorse for the victim but still feels that the criminal should have alternative sanctions when it comes to the sentence such as possible parole in five years if convicted, probation, or register as a sex offender and it all depends on the case that is being tried at the time and with most cases that involves victims the defense attorney has the right to cross examine the victim and it makes them relive the torture or it may cause the case to go into another direction that may make the criminal look guilty.
In all cases when it comes to sentencing the defense attorney looks for the best interest for the criminal and without failure if it means that the criminal agrees to a plea from the prosecutor and if it is the best interest for the criminal the defense attorney is more than willing to cooperate with the
prosecutor. The criminal will go as far as they can go in the sentencing phase to either be found not guilty, guilty, or to even be offered an amount of time if found guilty and sometimes is willing to take the sentence that is given.
Once the criminal is found guilty and sometimes will be asked to speak and they may ask forgiveness to the victim and family members of victims but they probably will not change the sentence for the criminal no matter how much compassion that they show. The criminal usually hope for alternative sanctions when they see that they be found guilty and will be willing to take a sentence of 20 years with possible parole than a sentence that gives them life without the possibility of parole. It all depends on the prosecutor, defense attorney, and the evidence that will determine the sentence for the criminal. The victim with any case just want justice to be served and may have to go through counseling in order to get their own life back together, they in turn want the max sentence for the criminal and see no alternative sanction for the criminal. They may believe that if the criminal is sentenced to the max then they will never be able to hurt or bring harm to anyone else and they are looking for the role of the prosecutor to make it be a known fact of their grief, pain, and there suffering after the criminal has done all that they could to destroy them, the victim is very emotional and whenever the sentence is not what they want for the victim they feel
as if justice has not been served. The goal of the sanctions for the criminal is see that they can be productive members of society and that they can be rehabilitated even if found guilty of all charges, they still see hope in alternative sanctions. The victim doesn’t see hope in alternative sanctions, the prosecutor may agree to alternative sanctions and the defense attorney is willing to fight for the alternative sanction for the criminal. The recommendations for victim’s right is that they continue to seek counselling and that the victim advocates continue to follow up on victims and that they have a 24 hour around the clock to be at the aid of victims in order for them to be able to go and live their normal lives without fear and pain of every day if they are the victim or if they are the victim of a loved one that they have lost by the hands of the criminal so that they choose not to seek revenge for themselves.