CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS IN T H E USA
Basically, the steps in the criminal court processes are as follows: arrest and booking, arraigment, trial and appeals (if any).
A person who comes into contact with the criminal courts must initially be arrested. The arrest may take place with or without using a warrant (e.g. when an offense takes place in the presence of the officer or when there is probable or reasonable cause to believe that a felony or misdemeanor has been committed. A felony is a serious offense punishable by death or imprisonment. A misdemeanor is a less serious offense punishable by a fine or up to one year in jail, or both). Even after an arrest the suspect may be released without being prosecuted for a variety of reasons: mistaken identity, lack of proper evidence, etc.
After the arrest is made, the suspect is booked. The booking card of the law enforcement agency contains information such as the date and time of arrest, the charge or crime for which the person was arrested, the name of the arrested person,. the name of the arresting officer. Here the accused is photographed, fingerprinted, and temporarily released on bail, if possible. The record or booking card is permanently kept in the files of the police department. On important cases, the prosecutor may be present at the booking, but usually he will enter the case during the arraignment or initial appearance of the suspect before a magistrate or other judicial officer. Before turning to the prosecution of the suspect, it must be remembered that the investigative work of the police may continue even though the accused is involved with the prosecution or court phases of the criminal justice system.
At arraignment, summary trials can be held for petty offenses without further processing. During the initial appearance before a magistrate, judge or justice of the peace, the accused is to answer the charges against him. During the arraignment procedure, the charge may be dismissed by the court for a legal reason or the prosecutor may request to have the charges dropped. The initial appearance may also
serve as the trial for minor offenses that have payment of a fine or a relatively short time in jail as punishment. Once the judge finds a verdict of guilt, the accused is sentenced to a jail or payment of a fine. The defendant may also be placed on probation for a specified length of time. If sentenced to jail, he may be granted parole.
The purpose of preliminary hearing in the lower court is to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that a felony was committed and whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the accused committed the crime. It is here that a preliminary testing of the evidence takes place. As a result
the accused may be released because of having been arrested not for probable cause, or he may be placed on bail or moved back to jail until his case is tried by the higher court.
If there is a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed by the accused, the prosecutor is given statutorily defined number of days to file formal charges against the defendant. The charge is filed on the basis of information from citizen complaints and police investigations.
Then another arraignment is held. If the defendant pleads guilty a date for him to be sentenced is set by the judge. If the defendant pleads not guilty, he may request to have a jury trial or be tried by the court without a jury. At the trial, if the defendant is convicted, a date for sentencing is set.
Before imposing the actual sentence an investigation by the probation officer takes place to assist the judge in deciding on a penalty. The defendant may be fined, sentenced to jail, or placed on probation. During this period the defendant can appeal his conviction. As a rule , the appeal stays the execution of the sentence. If the appeal is unsuccessful or the defendant decides not to appeal, the penalty is imposed.
The defendant is then involved in the corrections of the criminal justice system. It is here that rehabilitation of offenders is supposed to occur. This is the purpose of correctional establishments.
To reduce the risk of convicting an innocent person, there are checks and reviews at all stages of the criminal justice system.
(Law Enforcement in a Democratic Society, E. Beckman)
(3339 знаков)
Пояснения к тексту:
1. a magistrate – магистрат; судья полицейского суда
2. justice of the peace - мировой судья
3. have the charges dropped - прекратить дело
4. once the judge finds a verdict of guiet - как только судья выносит обвинительный
приговор
5. is supposed to occur - как полагают, происходит
Active vocabulary:
Basically, booking, trial, appeal, felony, misdemeanor, offence, punishable, in jail, to be prosecuted, accused prosecutor, magistrate, criminal justice system, justice of the peace, to have the charges dropped, a verdict of guiet, to sentence to jail, preliminary hearing, until, to plead, to convict, to imposed the penalty, innocent.
Questions:
1. What are the steps of the criminal justice in the USA ?
2. In what cases may an arrest be made without a warrant ?
3. What is a felony ?
4. What is the punishment for a misdemeanor ?
5. What does booking include ?
6. What is the purpose of preliminary hearing ?
7. What are the types of punishments ?
8. What is the function of the probation officer ?
9. When can defendant appeal his conviction ?
10. What is done to reduce the risk of convicting an innocent person ?
Physical Evidence
The finding, collecting and preservation of physical evidence are the most important phases in a criminal investigation.
Physical evidence is of value only if it helps to prove a case or clear a suspect. The most valuable evidence may be worthless if inefficiently handled. A system is designated as the chain of evidence. In general, the term "chain of evidence" may be defined as the documentation of every article of evidence, from the point of initial discovery at a crime scene, to its collection and transport to a laboratory, its temporary custody and its final disposition. Within this context, it is natural that:
- the admissibility of the information derived from any article of evidence be directly proportional to and fully dependent on the manner and precautions taken to ensure that the evidence presented to a court has been protected;
- there be no viable alternative to a strong chain of evidence.
It is not always possible to know whether or not an object has evidential value until it is analyzed. For example, one is generally unable to see all the details in a shoe imprint until a cast has been made and that cast compared with the shoe.
In collecting any object of possible evidential value an officer should keep in mind the importance of the following:
1. The possibilities of fingerprints being found on it.
2. The chances of certain pieces of microscopic debris, such as hair, blood, paint, fibres, etc., adhering to it.
3. How that article should be removed, marked, packaged and transported.
Physical evidence is something that is concrete, something that can generally be measured, photographed, analyzed, and presented as a physical object in court. Circumstantial evidence is a specific circumstance. For example, a suspect might be accused of burglary, and the shoes he is wearing are proved to have made certain impressions found at the scene of a crime. The shoes and the imprint are
physical evidence, while the fact that the suspect was wearing the shoes when arrested is circumstantial evidence. Someone else could have worn the shoes at the time the burglary was committed, therefore that type of evidence is circumstantial.
If there are witnesses, the investigator needs corroborative evidence; if there are no witnesses, the entire case must often be proved through physical evidence alone.
Alone piece of evidence, because of its great intrinsic value and the impossibility of being duplicated, may be sufficiently important to warrant a conviction - for example, a fingerprint. At other times it may be a combination of a number of articles of physical evidence, none of which are conclusive, that proves the case.
The intrinsic value of physical evidence often depends on its location. A hat on one's head has little significance but if it is found beside a murder victim it might become of great importance.
There is no such thing as a perfect crime, a crime that leaves no traces - there is only the inability to find the evidence.
When the investigating officer arrives at a crime scene it is necessary that he should first protect the scene and prevent anybody from touching any object.
The preliminary survey is to acquaint the investigating officer with the entire scene and its important details. After he has completed his preliminary survey the photographer may go to work. It is important that the investigator should accompany the photographer, pointing out various objects of possible evidential value. He should note possible location of latent prints (invisible prints), and guard against contamination of such objects and surfaces.
After the general scene has been completely photographed, the officer with casting equipment casts all possible imprints, if such are present, and then the fingerprint man should work on various objects. He should also note movable objects where fingerprints may be found, and should carefully remove them to a safe place for dusting and developing later.
As the fingerprint man completes his work, the investigator may go to work thoroughly searching the scen of possible evidential value.
As evidence is found, it should be marked, carefully packaged, each article separately, and placed in some locality where it will not be destroyed or contaminated, until it is transported to a laboratory.
(3286 знаков)
Пояснения к тексту:
1) none of which are - ни одно из которых
2) conclusive (here:) - убедительный
Active vocabulary:
to look for, to analyze, a possibility, custody, latent, impressions, a picture, a dactyloscopic expert, to search for, an article, a criminal, a probability, to examine, imprints, a photograph, preservation, invisible, an item, a fingerprint man, a perpetrator.
Найдите эквиваленты в тексте:
Доказать дело, снять подозрения с подозреваемого, ценные вещественные доказательства, сделать слепок, косвенные улики, кража со взломом, убийство, подтверждающие доказательства, предварительный осмотр места происшествия, изъять предметы, уничтожить или загрязнить улики, осматривать место происшествия в целях нахождения отпечатков пальцев, жертва, доказывать дело лишь с помощью вещественных доказательств, оберегать место присшествия, закончить предварительный осмотр, отметить расположение отпечатков пальцев, дактилоскопист, обработать порошком, промаркировать улики, упаковать улики.
Questions:
1. What are the most important phases of a criminal investigation ?
2. What types of evidence do you know ?
3. What is physical evidance ?
4. What is the first responsibility of an officer at a crime scene ?
5. What is the aim of preliminary investigation ?
6. What should be done with phisical evidence found at a crime scene ?
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