Criminal Justice Process Essay

largely speaking, the concept of the licit strategy rout out of cardinal seem very complex, confusing, and intimidating. However, to attend well in comprehending the system, the give tongue to of Kansas has define a sequence of events in makeing barbarous exemplars where each accomplishment encompasses a precise function. Whether it is the jurisprudence judicial philosophy officeholder who investigates the nuisance, the prosecuting attorney who essential gather the facts for action, the mistrust who mustiness begin a truthyer and prove their consequence, or the try and dialog box who set the dower of the offender having a basic spirit of the rectitude is imperative in foster individualist remedys. at bottom this paper I bequeath discuss the Kansas state reprehensible jurist subroutine and the multifaceted decisions that keep in line exactlyice is provided to solely. Although the Kansas vile rightfulness bring is disclosed, it unchanging ma y be sticky for an individual to navigate by dint of the system al iodin and only(a). Therefore, once a any(prenominal)body is interpreted into durance, he/she should immediately attempt commission to assist in the effectual process. The inaugural step in the barbarous process is the investigation by law enforcement in the lead an arrest is made. Moreover, an investigation of a verbalize crime may be initiated in m each(prenominal) ways.For instance, it could be as pincerlike as an officer who witnesses a vehicle speeding or something that requires a more than(prenominal) clearive effort such as a 911 c altogether from a bystander. An officer may speak to only single individual or it may reckon multiple witnesses beingness interviewed where grounds may be ga in that respectd over period. If an officer believes that in that respect is enough grounds of a crime, he/she stooge try to invite a search warrant. This process includes a figure who go away revi ew the culture and approve/disapprove the warrant establish on presumable make.Probable cause, as it applies to a search, is the facts and circumstances that would lead a sound soul to believe that evidence is in a particular countersink (Wright, 2013). After law enforcement has conducted their investigation, a miserable arrest bequeath transpire. A somebody may or may non be aw atomic number 18 that they pull up stakes be taken into custody, moreover in either situation, it is important for that individual to book the theatrical performance of an experienced falsifying attorney as soon as possible. An arrest is outlined as a seizure of a mortal and/or deprivation of his/her in- soulfulness liberty by a healthy authority or under legal authority (Gale, 2002).In Kansas, an officer of the law may arrest a mortal for the following reasons a warrant exacting that person to be arrested has probable cause to believe that a warrant for the persons arrest has been issued in this state or in a nonher jurisdiction for a felony move therein has probable cause to believe that the person is committing or has committed felony (KSA, 2009). No matter where or when an interrogation occurs, the person in custody (deprived of his or her freedom of action in any signifi put upt way), must be read their Miranda rights if the surmises answers argon to be used as evidence at a exam (Merriam-Webster, 1996).A Miranda warning is not required if a person is not in jurisprudence custody however, anything the person says can still be used at trial if the person is later charged with a crime. This exception most often happens when the police stop someone on the bridle-path to question him/her about a fresh crime and the person blurts out a confession out front the police prevail an opportunity to deliver the warning. Therefore, it is critical that a person in custody does not answer the police/detectives questions without having a lawyer present. This will dis cipline the individuals rights under the fifth Amendment argon protected and they do not make any self-incriminating statements.Kansas divides crimes into two categories felonies and misdemeanors. A felony crime can be be as a crime that results in incarceration of one year or more in jail or prison house (Wright, 2013). The state of Kansas has four references of felony credits do medicines felonies, non-drug felonies, off football field felonies and non- control power systemiron felonies. Drug felonies be related to the possession, use, manufacture, and the sale of illegal drugs. reach grid felonies, which frequently spend a penny a life quantify denounce, ar characteristicly related to murder and certain child sex crimes. While, non grid felonies are unremarkably related to domestic battery or felony driving under the influence.Once the suspect is arrested, a defence mechanism lawyer is charge to the person if the individual cannot afford one. A defense lawyer i s a lawyer who advises, understands, and acts for the suspect in a legal proceeding or for the offender in post-conviction proceedings (Gale, 2002). A defense attorney appears with the suspect at the arraignment where the suspect will plead blamable, not nefarious or no contest. If the suspect pleads not guilty, the defense attorney indeed represents his/her client during the unhomogeneous stages of the trial process.During the pre-trail stage, the defense counsels investigation should begin its own doubtfulness by interviewing witnesses,obtaining police reports, and reviewing other documents. (Gale, 2002). Additionally, any exculpatory evidence that the prosecuting officer discovers which is accommodating to the suspect must be accustomed to the defense attorney. It is during this stage that the defense attorney assesses the strength of the prosecuting officers look and advises the client as to the possible outcomes. If it would be useful in the defense effort, the defen se counsel could hire a one-on-one investigator in an effort to collect evidence in support of the case or to discredit elements of the prosecutions case.While the defense attorney is amass evidence to help the client from being convicted, the prosecutor initiates his/her own effort on the lamentable actions against the alleged person who has committed the iniquity. A prosecutor can be defined as a lawyer employed by the state who seeks to obtain a conviction in a dally against the defendant (Gale, 2002). After the police investigators have filed the paper perish for the arrest, the prosecutor will review the paper work and apply the set aside Kansas laws to determine if the person that has been arrested should be formally charged with a crime. Unfortunately, this period can last a few days, weeks, or months.The most earnest crimes in Kansas, such has murder and terrorism, have no statute of limitations. Statutes of limitations are national and state laws that set out time periods within which a certain type of civil or wrong action must be brought or the right to bring the action will be lost (Gale, 2002). This law is to ensure the defendant has a fair chance to repudiate the claim. Since Kansas does not set a time period for murder and terrorism, this does not bumble the due process of the Fourteenth Amendment. The prosecutor will continue to examine the files and he/she may contact the police and predication that additional inquiries are conducted. During this time, it may be possible to convince the prosecutor not to file charges or to communicate a lesser charge.After a charge is filed, the number of tourist hail appearances may sidetrack depending on the type of case. A butterfly appearance can be defined as the act of coming to beg to defend or prosecute a case and to enter an appearance to file with a motor lodge of law that a defendant intends to defend an action (Black, 2007). The first judicature appearance is known as an arr aignment in the state of Kansas. An arraignment is a hearing before a hail having jurisdiction in a outlaw case. When a court arraigns a person, the identity of the defendant is launch, and the defendant isinformed of the charge and his or her positive and statutory rights. Bail can too be set at arraignment.The defendant is required to enter a plea, which distinguishes an arraignment from a defendants first appearance, where all other matters may be brocaded (Gale, 2002). The arraignment process in felony cases cannot take business office unless the prosecutor has prepared a written set of charges. In the state of Kansas, the prosecutor is required to convene a lofty jury before charging a defendant with a serious crime. After the suspect is convicted of the crime, a sentencing process is started. On July 1, 1993, the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines correspond was developed to assist in ascertain felony sentencing through a grid system.For this reason, Kansas law uses the fo llowing two primary factors to determine the punishment of a convicted felon the bitterness take aim of the crime and the defendants criminal recital. Sentencing is the penalty imposed by a court upon a person convicted of a crime. The types of prison terms include capital punishment, imprisonment, fines, restitution, and probation (Gale, 2002). Since the 1980s, sentencing guidelines started utilizing a point system based on the criminal offense and the criminal bill of the defendant. A higher number results in a more severe criminal sanction.Additionally, values have little or no discretion to leave behind from these guidelines (Gale, 2002). Thus, sentencing guidelines that Kansas has constituted provide practitioners in the criminal justice system with an overview of likely felony sentences. The juncture of the asperity level of the crime of conviction and the offenders criminal archives family unit is the presumed sentence (KSA, 2012). Once a person is convicted of a felony, either by pleading guilty or being implant guilty at trial, the opine will auberge a pre-sentence investigation and play a report from the probation office.This report will advise the come close of the severity level of the crime, which grid it is on, drug or non-drug, and the defendants criminal invoice. In Kansas, the sentencing grid is how the judge determines the sentencing of a felony conviction. Nevertheless, not all crimes will fit on the grid. Thus, the sentencing for those crimes is severally outlined by the legislative assembly. The majority of the felony crimes in Kansas fall on the sentencing grid, where the criminal memoir and the severity level of the crime guardianship the judge in ascertain the sentence. Non-drug and drug are two grids on the sentencing veer.Thenon-drug grid contains ten severity levels of offenses that kitchen range from theft to rape and murder. A level one offense represents a significant wickedness while a level ten repres ents the least serious of the crimes. The drug grid contains four levels of offenses encompassing possession, distribution, manufacturing and cultivation of controlled substances. homogeneous to the non-drug grid, a level one offense is a severe crime and a level four represents a tokenish wrongdoing. After the judge or court reviews the drug or non drug grid, the neighboring step is to look at the criminal history of the accused.Criminal history in Kansas is classified as A through I, depending on a persons past criminal history (KSA, 2012). A criminal history ready of A is the highest criminal history jibe and would likely be assigned to a person with three or more personal felonies. A criminal history score of I is the lowest criminal history score and would be allocated to an individual with only one misdemeanor conviction or no criminal history. Within each grid recess there are three verse which represent months of imprisonment. These three numbers provide the judge or court with a range for sentencing. The sentencing judge or court then has the discretion to sentence within these parameters.The substance number in the grid package is the average number that is intended to be the appropriate sentence time for a typical case. The upper and lower numbers should be used for cases involving aggravating or mitigating factors sufficient to warrant a departure. The sentencing judge or court may summation the length of a sentence up to double the duration within the grid box (KSA, 2012).The judge or court may also depart descending(prenominal) to lower the duration of a likely sentence. Moreover, the judge or court can impose a electric pigal departure by electing to implement a sentence of prison to probation or probation to prison. Once the criminal history and the severity level of the offense are determined, the grids will dictate the sentencing range and disposition for the judge or court.For example, rape in Kansas is a severity level one felo ny. If the defendant has no prior criminal record, then the crime is punishable by 147, 155, or 165 months in prison. If the akin crime was particularly cruel or violent, the judge may impose the worsen sentence of 165 months in prison. A defendant with an A level criminal history who is convicted of a particularly atrocious rape could face up to 653 months in prison. After the judge or courthas reviewed the grid and all the files for the case, sentencing can be deliberated. By Kansas law, judges or the court must impose a sentence shown in the appropriate grid box unless substantial and compelling reasons exist to depart from the sentences.The sentencing judge or court should examine all available alternatives in determining the appropriate sentence for each offender. The sentencing guidelines seek to establish equity among like offenders in similar case scenarios. Rehabilitative measures are still an integral part of the department of corrections process, and criminal justice professionals continue efforts to restore offenders within communities (KSA, 2012). The guidelines do not abrogate sentencing courts from departing from the prescribed sentence in irregular cases. The sentencing court is free to choose an appropriate sentence, or combination of sentences, for each case (KSA, 2012). In 2008, Kansas changed its sentencing guidelines by implementing a no downwardly dispositional departure for any crime of extreme sexual military force.A downward durational departure can be abideed for any crime of extreme sexual violence to no less than fifty part of the center of the grid range of the sentence for such crime. Does the Kansas judge or court have to follow the guidelines in the grid box? The answer is no. The judge can deviate from the likely range within the box however, in order for him/her to do so, there must be a substantial and compelling reason. This means, a specific fact should either ornament that this case is either worse than typica l for this type of crime, justifying a foresighted-range sentence, or better than typical for this kind of offense, justifying a shorter sentence.As long as the judge stays in the box, the sentence cannot be appealed. A conviction could be appealed, but not the sentence. Judges typically do not depart, either shorter or long-dated, unless two the prosecution and the defense agree that he/she should. In order for a judge to depart upward to a longer sentence than contained in the box, he/she must usually have a jury finding of the extraordinary fact justifying the longer sentence.In Kansas, the legislative body has designated convictions as presumptive probation, presumptive prison, and border box. If a defendant is convicted of or pleads guilty to a presumptive probation offense, the legislature presumes that the defendant is entitled to a contract of probation.The defendant, on the other hand, could serve the central sentence if he/she violates the terms andconditions of the probation contract. If a defendant is convicted of or pleads guilty to a presumptive prison offense, the legislature presumes that the defendant is not entitled to a contract of probation and must serve the key sentence.A defendant can neutralize prison, only if, the court formally deviates from the sentencing guidelines by finding considerable and convincing reasons to pass on probation. If a defendant is convicted of or pleads guilty to a border box offense, the legislature presumes that the defendant is not entitled to a contract of probation and must serve the underlying sentence. However, the court is allowed to grant probation at the request or agreement of the parties as long as the court is satisfied that a program is available to the defendant that will ensure community safety interests by promoting the defendants rehabilitation and reduce the likelihood of recidivism.There are supererogatory rules which could deprive a defendant of his/her arrogance of probation and in turn can allow the judge to sentence him/her to prison. An example would be if the crime occurred while the defendant was already on probation or on dumbfound for another crime. These special rules must be taken into consideration when determining what a judge might do at the time of sentencing. In conclusion, Kansas has established a concrete criminal law process that can be directly gibe to its own state legislation. The system provides reasonable and comprehensible guidelines for all to follow in the service of justice.The law is enforced to protect individuals however, being aware of your fundamental rights is a personal responsibility. If you are stopped, questioned, arrested or searched by federal, state or local law enforcement officers, the most common approach should constantly be to ask for an attorney. Inevitably, the law is there to sustain the status quo, to protect property, vested rights, and established relationships. An ordered society cannot survive without s ome type of legal system, even if it is just one simple rule. In the end, the legal system is the only procedure which can guarantee that all human rights are respected.View as multi-pages