Criminal Law Assignment 2022

Running head: CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

CRIMINAL LAW1
1. In the criminal judicial system of the United States, the courtroom workgroup
refers to an informal arrangement among the judicial officer, the criminal prosecutor and
the criminal defence attorney mainly (Arazan, Bales & Blomberg, 2019). They are often
referred to as the courtroom actors as these individuals work together for processing the
cases that appear before the court.
The judge being the most significant and powerful member of the workgroup has
the responsibility of ensuring that justice prevails. He is able to influence the result of a
case by ruling and considering the matters of law, case procedure as well as sentence.
Next comes the criminal prosecutor or the prosecuting attorney. Prosecutors with the aid
from various assistants have the responsibility to decide the appropriate charges on the
defendant, prepare a case for every step of the process of the court. They even have the
responsibility to introduce evidence as well as witnesses for supporting the charges at
trial and even advising the police. When the defendant is convicted, the prosecutors make
recommendations for sentencing. They even enjoy a considerable amount of discretion
though sometimes limited by court decisions in many cases. For instance, prosecutors
have to disclose evidence requested by the defense as decided in the case of United
States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667 (1985). The main adversary of the prosecutor is the
defence counsel. As said before, as the prosecutor is liable for the preparation of the case
and the trial for the state, the defense counsel has the same responsibility for the
defendant. In the criminal justice system, there are several attorneys who are entrusted
with providing criminal defence. As per the interpretation of the 6th Amendment by the
Supreme Court, the defendants who can face imprisonment when convicted and who are
very poor that he cannot afford to pay the attorney, defence counsel is appointed for

CRIMINAL LAW2
them. This was decided in the case of Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (1977) by
Supreme Court.
2. The judges are actually the axle on which the justice wheels run. They manage the
pre- trial proceedings, rule on motions, supervision of jury trial, taking pleas of guilty,
imposing sentences in criminal cases and resolving appeals. The judges of the trial court
who preside on the judicial process and decide almost millions of decisions every year lie
at the base of the state judicial and the federal hierarchies. The decisions of the cases are
usually taken on the basis of the facts of the case, implying the relevant legislation,
precedents and other factors (Conrad Jr & Clements, 2018).
The other factors considered by judges while deciding criminal cases are whether
the offender is a 1st time offender or a repeating offender, whether the offender was acting
as an accessory or he is the main accused, whether the offender had committed the crime
under duress or personal stress, whether the offender is cruel towards the victim or
vindictive, destructive, whether someone else is hurt and whether the alleged crime was
committed in a way that was unlikely to hurt anyone else (Pina-Sánchez & Linacre,
2016). As per the section 32(a) of the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure, before
sentencing, the court must grant the counsel a chance to speak on defendant’s behavior.
In this way, judges make decisions in cases.
3. The trial penalty refers to the concept that has been accepted widely by many
major members in the criminal judicial system like the defendants, judges, prosecutors
and defense attorney (Tata & Gormley, 2016). The notion behind this is that the
defendants faces longer trials of sentence than they would have been sentenced by plea
bargaining.