Criminal Procedures of a Felony Crime | Report

Running Head : Stages of criminal prosecution of felony crime in United States
STAGES OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF FELONY CRIME IN UNITED STATES
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Stage of criminal prosecution of felony crime in United States1
Introduction
The process of criminal justice varies from state to state, and the criminal justice process
at the federal level has its own rules and procedures.The felony is considered as the most severe
form of crime which is punishable for more than one year (Bohn, Freedman & Owens, 2015).
The judge while sentencing an accused charged of felony crime considers the additional
circumstances which includes the level of education, past criminal record, financial condition,
substance history of exploitation of an accused person (Hester & Hartman, 2017). The paper
focuses on the detailed criminal procedures of a felony crime and the recommendation to
improve the criminal process in the United States.
Discussion
The criminal prosecution progresses in a range of stages which initiate with the arrest of
the accused person and ends prior or during continuation or at the end of the trial. Most of the
criminal proceedings dispose of when the accused accepts the plea bargaining presented by the
prosecution( Lofstrom & Raphael, 2016). In plea bargaining, the defendant either accept to beg
guilty prior to trial or plea for slighter charges in exchange for lenient punishment( Shannon et
al, 2017). The criminal proceedings initiated with the arrest of an accused person by the police
officer under valid warrant of arrest. Bail is granted to the accused on payment of bail amount in
an altercation of release. The suspected person can also be released on own recognizance but for
releasing the accused on own recognizance the court needs to consider the gravity of the offence
and previous record of accused (Pakes, 2019). The first appearance by the accused person after

Stage of criminal prosecution of felony crime in United States2
an arrest is an arraignment where the judges recite the charges that is stated in the complaint to
the accused (Fosten, 2016). The accused either chose guilty or not guilty or no contest to that
charges. There is two processes in the federal system that is Preliminary hearing and Grand jury
proceedings. In the preliminary proceedings, both prosecution and accused makes argument
while on the other hand, Grand Jury proceedings the jury hears from the prosecutor only. In the
Pre-trial motion, both parties attempt to resolve the issues and discover evidence which will be
admissible at the time of trial. At the stage of trial, the jury either find the accused guilty or not.
The onus proving the guilt of accused in the criminal proceedings rests on the prosecution
(Vogler, 2017). The jury makes the concluding determination of guilt after considering the
examination, cross-examinations and closing statements of witnesses. If the jury found the
person guilty then the court will pronounce sentencing of the convict and if no guilt is
established against the accused, later the case will be dismissed. In the Sentencing phase, the
court concludes the appropriate sentencing of accused considering the severity of the offence and
previous criminal record. The individuals are dissatisfied with the verdict of conviction
pronounced by the trial court the aggrieved person may file an appeal either to converse the
conviction or for reconsidering the case.
In the case of Mr Sufferer, he is accused of the offence of burglary and his previous
criminal record for selling narcotics. As a victim’s lawyer it is his duty to explain possible
outcome for each phase of criminal proceedings. The burglary can be defined in legal terms as
entering the building of others with the intention to commit the offence, For establishing the
crime of burglary it is required to prove the guilt of accused by the prosecution beyond a
reasonable doubt. In order to prove the guilt of accused, it is necessary to confirm the followings
factors that are the application of force, unauthorized entry and intention to commit the offence