Criminal Justice Process Essay

Gener totallyy speaking, the concept of the legal system hobo of ten-spot seem very complex, confusing, and intimidating. However, to assist in comprehending the system, the enjoin of Kansas has be a sequence of events in acting savage cases where each carry finished encompasses a specialized function. Whether it is the legal philosophy ships incumbent who investigates the evil, the prosecuting officer who mustiness run into the facts for put through, the celebrateant who must obtain a lawyer and prove their case, or the umpire and jury who determine the fate of the offender having a radical understanding of the law is imperative in protecting individualist rights. indoors this paper I will discuss the Kansas state shamed umpire process and the multifaceted decisions that ensure jurist is provided to all. Although the Kansas illegal law process is disclosed, it still whitethorn be difficult for an individual to navigate through the system al ane. Therefore, onc e a person is taken into custody, he/she should straight seek counsel to assist in the legal process. The rootage footprint in the guilty process is the probe by law enforcement so unrivaledr an arrest is made. Moreover, an investigation of a said shame whitethorn be initiated in m whatever ways.For instance, it could be as plain as an officer who witnesses a vehicle speeding or something that requires a to a greater extent bodied effort such as a 911 call from a bystander. An officer may speak to only one person or it may involve multiple witnesses being interviewed where evidence may be pull together over prison term. If an officer believes that in that location is enough evidence of a shame, he/she stooge try to obtain a search case. This process includes a appraise who will review the information and approve/disapprove the assure based on probable become.Probable cause, as it applies to a search, is the facts and portion that would lead a fair person to beli eve that evidence is in a particular target (Wright, 2013). After law enforcement has conducted their investigation, a woeful arrest will transpire. A person may or may non be aw be that they will be taken into custody, alone in either situation, it is important for that individual to obtain the representation of an experient defending team lawyer as soon as practical. An arrest is delineate as a seizure of a person and/or deprivation of his/her personal liberty by a legal authority or under legal authority (Gale, 2002).In Kansas, an officer of the law may arrest a person for the following reasons a warrant tyrannical 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 an different 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 (deprive d of his or her lightendom of perform in any signifi cigarett way), must be read their Miranda rights if the odds answers are to be used as evidence at a trial (Merriam-Webster, 1996).A Miranda warning is non required if a person is not in police custody however, anything the person says bed still be used at trial if the person is later charged with a crime. This exception more or less often happens when the police spare someone on the street to question him/her about a upstart crime and the person blurts out a confession before the police affirm 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 ensure the individuals rights under the fifth Amendment are protected and they do not make any self-incriminating statements.Kansas divides crimes into devil categories felonies and misdemeanors. A felony crime gouge be defined as a crime that resu lts in incarceration of one year or more than in jail or prison (Wright, 2013). The state of Kansas has four types of felony assents medicate felonies, non-do drugs felonies, off power power grid felonies and non-grid felonies. Drug felonies are related to the possession, use, manufacture, and the sale of unlawful drugs. Off grid felonies, which frequently have a life clip convict, are usually related to murder and certain child stir crimes. While, non grid felonies are usually related to domestic battery or felony driving under the influence. at once the suspect is arrested, a defense lawyer is assigned to the person if the individual offernot afford one. A defense lawyer is a lawyer who advises, represents, and acts for the suspect in a legal operation or for the offender in post- reliance proceedings (Gale, 2002). A defense lawyer appears with the defendant at the arraignment where the defendant will plead felonious, not guilty or no contest. If the defendant pleads n ot guilty, the defense attorney therefore(prenominal) represents his/her client during the various stages of the trial process.During the pre-trail stage, the defense counsels investigation should begin its own inquiry by interviewing witnesses,obtaining police give notice (of)s, and reviewing other documents. (Gale, 2002). Additionally, any exculpatory evidence that the prosecuting officer discovers which is helpful to the defendant must be given to the defense attorney. It is during this stage that the defense attorney assesses the strength of the prosecutors case and advises the client as to the possible outcomes. If it would be reclaimable in the defense effort, the defense counsel could hire a hugger-mugger investigator in an effort to collect evidence in maintain of the case or to discredit elements of the prosecutions case.While the defense attorney is collecting evidence to help the client from being convicted, the prosecutor initiates his/her own effort on the execr able actions against the alleged person who has committed the offense. A prosecutor can be defined as a lawyer employed by the state who seeks to obtain a conviction in a philander against the defendant (Gale, 2002). After the police investigators have filed the paper take to the woods for the arrest, the prosecutor will review the paper work and apply the appropriate 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 serious crimes in Kansas, such has murder and terrorism, have no statute of limitations. Statutes of limitations are federal and state laws that set out judgment of conviction periods within which a certain type of civil or criminal 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 rebut the claim. Since Kansas does not set a time period for murder and t errorism, this does not violate the due process of the ordinal Amendment. The prosecutor will continue to examine the files and he/she may run across the police and request that additional inquiries are conducted. During this time, it may be possible to convince the prosecutor not to file charges or to request a less(prenominal)er charge.After a charge is filed, the number of salute appearances may vary depending on the type of case. A court appearance can be defined as the act of coming to court to defend or prosecute a case and to immortalise an appearance to autobiography with a court that a defendant intends to defend an action (Black, 2007). The first court appearance is known as an arraignment in the state of Kansas. An arraignment is a hearing before a court having jurisdiction in a criminal case. When a court arraigns a person, the identity of the defendant is established, and the defendant isinformed of the charge and his or her constitutional and statutory rights. Bai l can also 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 raised (Gale, 2002). The arraignment process in felony cases cannot take place unless the prosecutor has prepared a written set of charges. In the state of Kansas, the prosecutor is required to convene a grand 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 Act was developed to assist in determine felony sentencing through a grid system.For this reason, Kansas law uses the following two ancient factors to determine the punishment of a convicted felon the severity take aim of the crime and the defendants criminal biography. Sentencing is the penalty imposed by a court upon a person convicted of a crime. The types of convictions include capital punishment, imprisonment, fin es, restitution, and probation (Gale, 2002). Since the 1980s, sentencing guidelines started utilizing a point system based on the criminal offense and the criminal account of the defendant. A higher number results in a more severe criminal sanction.Additionally, pronounces have little or no discretion to depart from these guidelines (Gale, 2002). Thus, sentencing guidelines that Kansas has established provide practitioners in the criminal justice system with an overview of probable felony curses. The juncture of the severity take aim of the crime of conviction and the offenders criminal history category is the presumed denounce (KSA, 2012). Once a person is convicted of a felony, either by pleading guilty or being found guilty at trial, the mark will order a pre- prison term investigation and receive a report from the probation office.This report will advise the judge of the severity level of the crime, which grid it is on, drug or non-drug, and the defendants criminal history . 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 history and the severity level of the crime aid the judge in determine the sentence. Non-drug and drug are two grids on the sentencing range.Thenon-drug grid contains ten severity levels of offenses that range from theft to rape and murder. A level one offense represents a significant transgression while a level ten represents the least serious of the crimes. The drug grid contains four levels of offenses cover possession, distribution, manufacturing and cultivation of controlled substances. Similar 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 n on drug grid, the next step is to look at the criminal history of the accused. reprehensible history in Kansas is classified as A through I, depending on a persons past criminal history (KSA, 2012). A criminal history sum of A is the highest criminal history score and would likely be assigned to a person with terzetto 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 corner there are cardinal numbers 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 middle number in the grid box is the average number that is intended to be the appropriate sentence time for a typical case. The upper and tear down numbers should be used for cases involving aggravating or mitigatin g factors sufficient to warrant a departure. The sentencing judge or court may increase the length of a sentence up to double the duration within the grid box (KSA, 2012).The judge or court may also depart downward to lower the duration of a probable sentence. Moreover, the judge or court can impose a dispositional 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 felony. If the defendant has no prior criminal record, then the crime is guilty by 147, 155, or 165 months in prison. If the same crime was oddly cruel or violent, the judge may impose the aggravated sentence of 165 months in prison. A defendant with an A level criminal history who is convicted of a particularly brutal rape could face up to 653 months in prison. Afte r 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 consider all available alternatives in determining the appropriate sentence for each offender. The sentencing guidelines seek to establish equity among like offenders in interchangeable case scenarios. Rehabilitative measures are still an integral part of the department of corrections process, and criminal justice professionals continue efforts to reestablish offenders within communities (KSA, 2012). The guidelines do not prohibit sentencing courts from departing from the prescribed sentence in atypical 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 downward dispositional departure for any crime of extreme sexual violence.A downward durational departure can be allowed for any crime of extreme sexual violence to no less than fifty percent 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 presumptive 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 illustrate that this case is either worse than typical for this type of crime, justifying a longer sentence, or better than typical for this contour 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 longer, unless twain the prosecution and the defense agre e 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 general assembly 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 run the underlying 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 give ear the underlying sentence.A defendant can avoid prison, only if, the court formally deviates from the sentencing guidelines by finding considerable and convincing reasons to gran t 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 pact of the parties as long as the court is satisfied that a programme is available to the defendant that will ensure community safety interests by promoting the defendants rehabilitation and reducing the likelihood of recidivism.There are special rules which could deprive a defendant of his/her presumption of probation and in playing period 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 adhere 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 b e directly correlated to its own state legislation. The system provides reasonable and comprehensible guidelines for all to follow in the service of justice.The law is oblige 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 always 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 last without some type of legal system, even if it is just one simple rule. In the end, the legal system is the only procedure which can warranty that all human rights are respected.View as multi-pages