Pretrial and Trial
Pretrial and Trial
On T.V. pretrial receives very little attention but is an important aspect of the criminal justice process. There are seven steps to the pretrial process including, arrest and booking, the criminal complaint, arraignment and plea, probable cause hearing, discovery, pretrial motions and plea bargaining. First is arrest and booking, this step begins one of two ways. One is the typical way of making an arrest and the second way of the process starting is by having an arrest warrant issued. The arrest warrant is therefore issued before making the arrest on the individual. After the arrest is made everything follows the same path. The suspect is taken into custody and then is booked. This usually takes place at a local jail or police station. The booking process involves taking the suspects photo, fingerprinting, recording personal information, and recording the crimes in which he or she is being charged. The second step in the pretrial process is the criminal complaint. The prosecutor looks at the case and makes an initial decision whether or not to bring charges, but also if they do charge what the charges will be. The charge outlined on official paper is called the complaint. Complaints are not necessarily what the suspect was arrested for as the investigation continues, new information and evidence arises. From here the prosecutor may look drop some charges to add new ones or even change the charges. Specific charges can be dropped as part of plea bargaining. The third step is Arraignment and Plea, in which a defendant has the right to a hearing before a judge or magistrate. At this point the complaint is formally read and the arraignment almost always takes place on the day of the arrest. The arraignment can be the first time the defendant becomes aware of the charges he will face. The defendant enters the initial plea stage, and from here he can plead guilty, not guilty or no contest. The forth step in the pretrial process is
On T.V. pretrial receives very little attention but is an important aspect of the criminal justice process. There are seven steps to the pretrial process including, arrest and booking, the criminal complaint, arraignment and plea, probable cause hearing, discovery, pretrial motions and plea bargaining. First is arrest and booking, this step begins one of two ways. One is the typical way of making an arrest and the second way of the process starting is by having an arrest warrant issued. The arrest warrant is therefore issued before making the arrest on the individual. After the arrest is made everything follows the same path. The suspect is taken into custody and then is booked. This usually takes place at a local jail or police station. The booking process involves taking the suspects photo, fingerprinting, recording personal information, and recording the crimes in which he or she is being charged. The second step in the pretrial process is the criminal complaint. The prosecutor looks at the case and makes an initial decision whether or not to bring charges, but also if they do charge what the charges will be. The charge outlined on official paper is called the complaint. Complaints are not necessarily what the suspect was arrested for as the investigation continues, new information and evidence arises. From here the prosecutor may look drop some charges to add new ones or even change the charges. Specific charges can be dropped as part of plea bargaining. The third step is Arraignment and Plea, in which a defendant has the right to a hearing before a judge or magistrate. At this point the complaint is formally read and the arraignment almost always takes place on the day of the arrest. The arraignment can be the first time the defendant becomes aware of the charges he will face. The defendant enters the initial plea stage, and from here he can plead guilty, not guilty or no contest. The forth step in the pretrial process is