Many people are not aware of the actions that take place before the real trial exercise in a criminal case. The police arrests suspects and present them to the prosecutor who decides on whether to press charges or not. However, before any procedures, the state is obliged to give an attorney to persons accused of a crime. The attorney offers counsel and protection to the defendant throughout the trial exercise.
The first thing for most criminal cases is the plea bargaining exercise, where, the defense attorney may advise the defendant to plead guilty in exchange for reduced charges or lighter sentences. In fact, 90% of the criminal cases are disposed at this stage. However, defendants who do not plead guilty of the charges are jailed and the prosecutor proceeds to file charges against the suspect in a lower court (Farmer & Pecorino, 2004).
The prosecutor uses the information and the indictment documents to file charges. While filing charges, the prosecutor is obliged to disclose exculpatory evidence, which seeks to exonerate the suspect of guilt. Any prosecutor who decides to suppress such material evident violates the law.
The prosecutor discloses all the exculpatory evidence possessed by the police, investigators, witnesses, or the crime labs. The whole exercise is in line with the prosecutor’s search for justice, where, exculpatory evidence is regarded as material if it shows some form of credibility. The prosecutors have the obligation to use the material evidence to defend the criminal, failure to which, the suspect would seek some lawsuit later. In a stabbing case, for example, a suspect within the murder scene may be arrested because of having blood traces.
The police may go ahead and interview a witness who may claim to have witnessed the stabbing. If the witnesses claim that the accused is not guilty because they witnessed a different person committing the crime, the witnesses’ statement presents the exculpatory evidence. The police may doubt the witness’s statement or not, however, the prosecutor must inform the accuser and his or her attorney of the statement. The whole process ensures there is fairness as exculpatory information blocks the possibilities seeking some lawsuit.
As evident from the discussions, prosecutors have the greatest authority in handling any criminal case as they have the final word in every phase of the conviction process. The criminal justice system empowers the prosecutors to decide of the criminal charges to file, when to file the charges, when to offer a plea bargain or when to start an investigation.
However, some prosecutors may abuse their authority and offer unfair verdicts. Whenever prosecutors abuse their authority, they deny the accused of their constitutional rights, and thus, their actions are regarded as prosecutorial misconducts.
In some cases, some prosecutors may make politically motivated prosecutions or suppress evidence that favors the defendant whenever they feel that the defendant is guilty. Personal judgments have prevailed from time to time, where; prosecutors hide evidence that would prove the innocence of the accused (McFaden, 2001). In the stabbing case for example, the prosecutors may allow the use of perjured testimony and such actions deny the defendant of the right to have fair trials.
The jailed defendant’s first court appearance happens in the lower court, where judges have no authority to hold a trial. Therefore, the judges have to give a stringent analysis of the criminal record to determine if indeed there are legal grounds to support the arrest (Farmer & Pecorino, 2004).
The judge informs the defendant of the charges, explains the defendant’s rights with regard to the charges, and sets a bail if necessary. The judges would set a date for the defendant to appear for trials if the alleged facts are somewhat worthwhile. The defendant may opt to deposit the bail to be released from custody and show up on the trial date or stay in jail until the trial date.
However, not all defendants can get pretrial release as some may be too dangerous to the society, or others may be too poor to afford the bail. It is noteworthy that suspects with prior records of violence may not qualify to receive a bail. The above-mentioned pretrial procedures take place to ensure that justice prevails in the whole exercise; however, it is evident that the bail discriminates against the poor especially when judges set cash bails at very high levels.
From the discussions, it is noteworthy that the legal system is of paramount importance as offended citizens run to the courts for refuge. With all due respect, the courts should ensure they win the trust of all the citizens by eliminating all forms of prosecutorial misconducts and displaying the highest level of integrity. It is noteworthy that prosecutorial misconducts have often made the public to have a negative perception of the justice system.
When the misconducts are ignored repeatedly the courts weakens its ability to offer justice to the citizens. Prosecutorial misconducts lower the integrity of the courts. Therefore, the prosecutor is obliged to disclose material evidence in favor of the suspect in any criminal prosecution. Exculpatory evidence should be used to identify cases in which a police officer has given false statements. Any prosecutor found guilty of any form of prosecutorial misconducts should be removed from office immediately.
References
Farmer, A. & Pecorino, P. (2004). Pretrial settlement with fairness. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 54 (3), 287-296.
McFaden, C. P. (2001). Prosecutorial misconduct. The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 14(4), 1211-1228.