Introduction
Trials for criminal cases is important to know the level of guilt or innocence of the accused person. It involves the enforcement of public codes of conduct as represented in the rule of laws as supported by the government’s prosecuting institutions or individuals. In general, the criminal case trials, there are efforts to bring criminal charges against the individual who allegedly committed a crime against another person or group of persons. However, the trial process itself is not as easy as it sounds. There are procedural steps that are normally being followed in a criminal trial, which will be presented in this discussion. Thus, these procedures are the ones that the courts use in order to come up with a case decision as to whether the suspected criminal is guilty or innocent. No matter how sensitive the criminal case will be, there is one existing rule in almost all of the criminal courts, which is, a person remains innocent until proven guilty based on the evidence presented by the prosecution panel.
Procedural steps in criminal trial
As an initial step, the very first procedure lies on the police force’s to investigate a crime. The investigation will be done through interview with the witness, victim, and if available, suspects will also be interviewed (County of Dane). Part of the investigation would be gathering of evidence, measuring the scene of the crime, and even gathering of DNA and finger print samples.
Before the actual court trial, both the prosecution and the defense panels will ask the court to exclude some of the evidence that they think irrelevant to the case proceeding. After the exclusion of certain evidence, the actual trial begins with opening statements of both the prosecution and defense. The prosecution will initially present its statement to either the jury or judge and then followed by the defense. Each of the panel’s opening statement will present the outline an outline that each panel wants to prove in court. However, some of the defense lawyers reserve their statement until the start of the case. Then again, the prosecution and the defense must deliver what they have promised to strengthen their case in the eyes of either the presiding officer of jury. The jury is includes neutral citizens who came from the nearby area and have no prior knowledge of the case being tried (Simonson, 2014). Aside from the judge, the jury plays essential roles in the criminal trial. They listen to the presented evidence as well as determines the facts in every case.
The next step is the prosecution’s direct examination to its own witnesses as its way of presenting its case. According to Edmond and San Roque (2012), direct examination is the presentation of direct testimony of the witness as a way of presenting the witness or victim’s first-hand knowledge and experience of the alleged crime. After the direct examination, the defense will conduct a cross examination to the prosecution’s witness. In contrast to the direct examination, the cross examination aims to prove the weakness of the witness and even challenges his or her credibility based on the initial statement that was presented. There are many effects that both direct and cross examinations may create. For instance, it may prove that the witness is not saying the truth about the case. On the other hand, these processes could be the way to strengthen the prosecution’s case and weaken the defense case, or it could be the other way around. Which is why, both direct and cross examination are two of the most crucial processes of the criminal trial.
The prosecution rest is the next step, to which the prosecutor will finish his or her case presentation. However, there is another optional step, which is called motion to the dismissal of case. This will be executed by the defense panel if they think that the prosecutor was not able to present enough evidence. However, most of the time, this motion is being denied by the judge.
Afterwards, the defense will present its case through direct examination of its witness (Edmond & San Roque, 2012). This will give chance to the accused person and other witness to prove that the person’s innocence. This is the same process that was initially given to the defense panel when it presented its case, but it is the defense’s turn to impair the prosecution’s case. However, there will also be another round for cross examination, which will be done by the prosecution panel to the defense’s witnesses. Similarly, the defense will rest its presentation of case. This is the usual legal battle between the prosecution and the defense panels in the criminal trial. However, many of the criminal cases do not finish on just one court hearing, especially if there are lots of evidence that both sides will present. After all the evidence have been presented and witnesses have been examined, both the defense and prosecution lawyers will get together along with judge for the determination of the final instructions that will also be given to the jury.
Subsequently, both the prosecution and defense will present their closing argument to summarize their evidence as well as to convince the judge and jury why they should win the case. After the instructions have been given to the jury and deliberations are finished, the judge will give his verdict or sentence of the case. It can be done on the same day after the deliberation of the jury of it can be on the next day.
Conclusion
Both the prosecution and the defense must have their strong legal strategies in order to win the case of their client. Each evidence must be strong enough to support one’s case. Then again, the accused person is different from being a guilty person unless proven after the court trial based on the presented evidence and facts.
References
County of Dane. (n.d.). Steps in a Criminal Case - District Attorney's Office - Government of Dane County, Wisconsin. Retrieved from https://www.countyofdane.com/da/case_steps.aspx
Edmond, G., & San Roque, M. (2012). The Cool Crucible: Forensic Science and the Frailty of the Criminal Trial. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 24(1), 51-68.
Simonson, J. (2014). The Criminal Court Audience in a Post-Trial World. The Harvard Law Review, 127(8), 2173-2232. Retrieved from http://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1297&context=faculty
