Criminal Investigations - Essay Example

Criminal Investigations Affiliation Criminal Investigations Various pretrial procedures will have been concluded by the time the case goes to trial. To some extent, it depends on the case nature and also the states. One of the pretrial procedures is the arraignment. In such a stage, the defendant has to be formally charged with the crime. He or she will have to enter the plea of not guilty. When the case it misdemeanor, then it will have to be set into trial. When the case involves some felony, then the case will have to be set for the preliminary examination.

Other pretrial procedures involve arrest, initial appearance before judges and a preliminary hearing, and this is to observe if there is some probable cause to believe the said crime is committed by the defendant. Other procedures involve the case being submitted to the grand jury. After arraignment, there may be the occurrence of hearings. The other procedure is the settlement or rather the plea docket. In addition, there are the pre-trial motions not yet addressed, in which case it may include the motion to suppress the evidence.

A criminal trial contains several phase. The first phase is the jury selection. This is where there is gathering of a pool of potential jurors and asked several questions. Second phase is the opening testament, in which case each side presents some overview of the case. Third phase is the witness testimony. This is the phase that each side calls for a witness to be asked some questions about the case. Fourth phase is the closing testimony, in which case the prosecution and the defense make short summarizing statements.

Next phase is jury instruction, and this is where the judges address the jurors by explaining the crime the defendant was judged and the application of the legal standards. The last phase is the verdict. This is the defendant is found to be guilty or not (Scheb & Scheb, 2009).References:Scheb, J. M., & Scheb, J. M. (2009). Criminal procedure. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.