In our last lecture, we discussed the structure and function of the Criminal Court System in The United States Of America. We also examined the flow of Decisions that occurs within the prosecution of a Criminal Court Case. Now, we will discuss the inner workings of the prosecutorial process itself. In particular, we will examine the actual location where a Criminal Court Case is prosecuted. To this end, we will focus on the Courtroom Work Group.
The Courtroom Work Group consists of the individuals and teams who work together to successfully prosecute a Criminal Court Case. The word Prosecute means to carry a process out from its inception to its logical conclusion. The Courtroom Workgroup, then, works together from the inception of a Criminal Court Case and carries the Case through the Justice System to its logical conclusion:
The Courtroom Work Group seeks to produce an environment of JUSTICE. Justice refers to a quality of fairness, the offering of equal opportunity to All, regardless of gender, race, creed, age, national origin, religious affiliation, nor any other factor. It is this active process of ensuring Justice that sets the American Court System apart from almost every other court system in the world.
The Courtroom Workgroup consists of the Judge, Jurors, Prosecutors, Defense Attorneys, Claimants, and Defendants. The selection and general make-up of Judges, Prosecutors, and Defense Attorneys are a reflection of the low-status nature of the specialty of practicing the Criminal Law.
A very small percentage of attorneys actually report that they function as Criminal Defense Attorneys--a product of the negative labeling placed upon the profession by American Social Forces. Indeed, most of the Criminal Defense Attorneys are drawn from the population of younger, inexperienced, freshly-graduated lawyers; otherwise, they tend to be older, less-successful members of the Legal Profession. Defense Attorneys do exist, though, and they serve a very important role in our American Criminal Justice System. They Serve to Protect the innocent from false conviction, and they serve to protect the Constitutional Rights of all Defendants.
Criminal Defense Services come from several sources. By tradition, Defendants are allowed to pay for their own Legal Counsel. Privately retained Legal Counsel remains an option for Criminal Defendants. That is, when they can afford to pay the fees extracted by Legal Counselors for their services. However, when a Criminal Defendant cannot afford to pay for the services of a private Legal Counsel, the United States Supreme Court requires that Defense Counsel be Provided By The STATE [at Taxpayer Expense].
STATE-Supported Defense Counsel takes two basic forms:
Public Defenders work in a special Agency which has been created for the express purpose of providing Legal Services to indigent and needy citizens. Appointed Counselors are selected by the Judge from a list of possible attorneys. A third, less common option is the Pro Se Defense, in which the Defendant represents himself as Legal Counsel during the Trial. The Pro Se Defense is a very dangerous type of Defense, because it assumes that the Defendant has an extensive knowledge of the Criminal Law--often, the case is just the opposite. The Defense Counsel serves to attack and destroy the Legal Charges placed upon the Defendant by the Prosecutor during his Criminal Trial.
The Prosecutor is a government official whose job is to bring the charges against the Defendant. The Prosecutor is usually an elected official who represents a particular County or State during Criminal Trial Proceedings. The Prosecutor is the opposing force in the Criminal Trial Process; standing against the Defense Counselor and the Defendant. The Prosecutor represents the Agrieved Party [Victim]. The Prosecutor's Office often hires younger, less experienced, recently-graduated Lawyers and older, less-successful Attorneys to provide the majority of Legal Services required during the Prosecution Phase of Criminal Trials. The Prosecution serves to attack and destroy the Legal Defenses which the Defendant claims during his Criminal Trial.
A Judge is a court official who is elected or appointed by The STATE for the purpose of reviewing and relieving the disputes presented through the arguments of Prosecution and Defense during a Criminal Trial. Judges preside over the various Courts found in the Criminal Court System of The United States:
Judges are selected through various procedures. The position of Judge holds a certain amount of prestige within the Criminal Justice System of The United States Of America. Most Judges are elected or appointed for extended terms of service, some even serve for the rest of their lives.
Judges are expected to be impartial and objective in their application of The Criminal Law while reviewing the facts and arguments presented by all parties concerned in the Criminal Trials over which they preside. Still though, this does not mean that Judges do not occassionally succumb to internal prejudices or external forces which bias their decisions. For this reason, a specialized system of internal and external review boards have been constructed to oversee the operations of the Judicial System. This system of review is a direct result of The Rule Of Law.
THE RULE OF LAW states that The Constitution Of The United States Of America is the Supreme Law Of The Land and all other Laws, Statutes, Rules, and Regulations shall be subordinate to it. In other words, no Act Of Congress, Presidential Order, State Law, County Code, nor Community Rule may be enforced if its enforcement would violate the protections emplaced by The Constitution Of The United States Of America. The same goes for Judicial Decisions. Simply put, if it ain't in The Constitution, then you cain't do it!
Juries are an important part of the Criminal Court System which act as the eyes and ears of the Reasoning Brain of Criminal Justice. In other words, the Jury functions as the decision-makers who determine whether or not there is enough evidence to actually press charges against a person [Indictment by Grand Jury], and whether or not a Defendant is guilty or innocent of the charges levied against them [Conviction or Acquital by Petit Jury].
Trial Juries are selected through a multi-staged process. They are selectd from the population of citizenry who reside within the jurisdiction wherein the crime in question occurred. Through voir dire, the Defense and Prosecution eliminate those citizens who are for one reason or another inelligible for service as Jurors. The end result is a small group who objectively respresents the Will Of The Community, whose job it is to review the facts presented in the criminal case and to decide whether or not the Defendant is guilty or innocent of the charges levied against them.
The Jury is mostly concerned with whether or not the Prosecution can prove the following:
Provided that the Elements Of A Crime have been proven, then the Jury is expected to return a Guilty Plea.
If the Defense is able, through Mitigation or by way of defeating the Prosecution's Arguments, to cause the Jury to have even the shadow of a doubt as to whether or not the Defendant actually did commit the crime, then the Jury is expected to issue an Acquital [Failure To Convict].
The desire of the Judicial System is that every Criminal Case be resolved in such a way as to convict the guilty and to acquit the innocent. This is the purpose of the Criminal Court System. It is referred to as the Justice Process. The Justice Process is depicted, once again, by the illustration presented below.
This lecture was designed to familiarize the Professional Crime Fighter with the inner workings of the Criminal Trial Process. To this end, I have presented basic knowledge about the Courtroom Work Group and their function within the Criminal Court System. Judge, Jury, Defense, and Prosecution each serve an important role in the process of Doing Justice. Utilized properly, the Courtroom Work Group becomes a very effective and efficient tool for the elimination of Offenders from Society, while at the same time providing a buffer of protection for Society's members against corruption and/or abuse by The System itself. When each member of the Courtroom Workgroup is functioning properly, then the innocent get to go free and the guilty end up paying the price for their antisocial actions.