As per the facts given, John Doe is an illegal immigrant in America, having no legal status to reside or work in the country. Illegal immigration is itself a crime, punishable under criminal law and is a matter of concern for various American agencies, responsible to maintain law and order. Now the questions of the case would be discussed here
1. Since John was in custody, what are the procedural steps the police were required to take once John began to incriminate himself?
John Doe is an illegal immigrant and was residing in America without having a legal status to reside or work there. John has committed crime of shoplifting which is considered a third degree crime in America. Since John is already in police custody, police will produce John in the competent court of law. John has already accepted his crime to the police officers at the time of arrest, the approach of the court for such persons is usually lenient if the accused deliberately admits his guilt in the court also as he did before police. John has no criminal background; this may inspire the judges to take some sympathetic approach towards john .
2. What procedural steps must the officers perform following John’s arrest and interview at the police station?
The police officers at the police station must tell john about his rights to have an attorney and should be provided one if John has no capacity to hire the attorney himself. Police during john’s interview should let him know about the charges and also tell him that he has a right to remain silent if he does not want to answer the question. The enquiring officer at the station should also tell john that whatever he is saying can be used against him the court of law. The police officer should also respond normal queries of john if the same does not make any negative impact on the enquiry or the case.
3.
The court could choose either a preliminary hearing or a grand jury proceeding to establish probable cause for the felony charges in this case. Compare and contrast the two procedures.
In America, hearing of a crime is done either by the Grand Jury or by Preliminary hearing. Grand Jury is a group of citizens, selected indiscriminately to hear a case. The working of the Grand Jury is interesting and different from the Preliminary hearing in the sense that during hearings of a case only prosecutor is present there to make evidences and accused and his attorneys are not allowed to be there. The accused might have no idea that which jury is hearing his case. Normal presumption about the hearings of grand jury is based upon the thinking that a group of citizens would be unbiased; the decision in grand jury comes by majority.
In most of the states of America Preliminary Hearing method is used to decide the cases. In this hearing unlike Grand Jury, prosecution as well as defendant both presents their versions of the case and the judge after hearing their arguments gives the verdict.
4.
Identify what issues the judge would take into consideration when setting bond for John.
While setting bond for John, the judge would consider his illegal immigration status in America and since John is running out of money, this may create a big problem for john. Other important things to keep in mind are that john has committed the crime for the first time and that he has voluntarily admitted the crime before the police.
5.
Explain what an arraignment is and what occurs during an arraignment.
The process of producing the accused in the court before the magistrate, where in the open court, clerk reads the charges leveled against the accused and accused is provide an attorney in case he is not capable to do it at his own. The accused before the court may plead or may not plead guilty; the process is further followed accordingly.
Bibliography
crproc. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2011, from www.judiciary.state.nj.us: http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/criminal/crproc.htm
Marshall, J. (2010, March 14). felony-offenses-in-new-jersey. Retrieved September 22, 2011, from www.njcriminaldefenselawblog.com: http://www.njcriminaldefenselawblog.com/2010/03/articles/general-criminal/felony-offenses-in-new-jersey/
