Chapter 1 - Professor John Polzer PDF

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Professor John Polzer...

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Ashlyn Holliday Professor John Polzer Introduction to Criminal Justice Monday, January 28, 2019 Chapter 1 Introduction (1 of 2)  Law enforcement: police  Court: District attorney o Determines guilt or innocence  Correctional agencies: jails and prisons Introduction (2 of 2)  Pg. 14 of book has a good chart about the decision making process  1,000 serious crimes o 500 reported  100 arrests  35 sent to juvenile court  65 sent to adult court o 40 accepted for prosecution  10 jump bail or don’t respond  They’re a fugitive until they’re found  27 plead guilty  3 make it to trial  1 is acquitted  2 are found guilty  Should be “innocent until proven guilty,” but jurors often approach the trial with a “guilty until proven innocent” mantra Contemporary Criminal Justice System (2 of 4)  All components are very important and very expensive  US incarcerates higher rate than anybody else in the world The Formal Criminal Justice Process (1 of 3)  Pg. 15 has a good chart at the top that breaks down who is responsible for the activity o TEST QUESTION- Where does something fit? Who handles what?  Goal: take them in the order that they happen  First 4 steps (initial contact  custody) can happen in an instant, they could also take years o Wire tapping o Interviews with witnesses o Accumulating documents  What happens while in custody o Miranda rights are read to you  Based on Miranda vs. Arizona case o Police can lie to you and say they have evidence they don’t actually have o Person who was arrested is not required to say anything

o If police bring you in for an interview, you should not say anything that could incriminate you or others, because if they had enough evidence to arrest you, they would have  Nolle prosequi o If you get charged, the DA can still dismiss the case  Preliminary hearing/grand jury o Make sure there is something there o If there’s no possible way he/she could’ve committed the crime, they’ll dismiss the case o Indictment does not equal guilt  The case is not over yet  Arraignment o Pleading guilty or not guilty The Formal Criminal Justice Process (2 of 3)  Plea bargaining o Basically, a settlement  Trial o 12 jurors (citizens) have to agree on guilt or innocence o Usually has to be unanimous  If it’s not, it’s called a mistrial  Have to start all over o If they’re proven not guilty, they’re free and can’t be sentenced again on that crime  Appeal o Probably won’t win The Formal Criminal Justice Process (3 of 3)  Most of us will have limited or no interaction with the CJ system Criminal Justice “Wedding Cake”  Celebrated cases examples o OJ Simpson o Treyvon Martin o Casey Anthony o Aaron Hernandez  Patriots all-star accused of multiple murders o Larry Nassar o Ted Bundy o Whitey Bulgar  More resources are devoted to the “celebrated cases” 19-27 have great multiple choice questions  Write 1 or 2 sentences for each perspective and explain why it’s different from the others Ethics in Criminal Justice (2 of 5)  Police have huge power

o Need to have a good group of people who are ethical  Police shootings have always happened, so why is it a problem now? o Media coverage of body cams o Video everywhere levels the playing field Ethics in Criminal Justice (4 of 5)  Goal is to seek justice, not to find someone guilty o Shouldn’t prosecute just to prosecute  In Texas, DAs are elected o Opponents will use cases dismissed to their advantage  How can you defend people if you know their guilty? o Never ask if they’re guilty o Job is to defend them within the parameters of the law o Job is to make sure rules and procedures are followed o Not their prerogative to judge the defendant  Lots of wrongful convictions are due to the prosecutor not doing their job...