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Criminal Justice Procedure

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Submitted By ambertucker22
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Criminal Justice Procedure
Amber Irwin Michiels
CRJ306
Instructor Petrov
July 31, 2013

Criminal Justice Procedure The criminal justice procedure involves a number of steps that must be taken carefully to ensure that a criminal does not get away with a criminal act because of law enforcement's failure to carry out each step properly. It is also set in place to protect the innocent from being unlawfully convicted. The modern justice process begins with investigation. After a crime has been discovered, evidence is gathered at the scene when possible, and a follow up investigation attempts to reconstruct the sequence of activities. Although a few offenders are arrested at the scene of the crime, most are apprehended later. In such cases, an arrest warrant issued by a judge provides the legal basis for an apprehension by police. An arrest, in which a person is taken into custody, limits the offender's freedom. The Arrest is a serious step in the process of justice. Most arrests are made peacefully, but if a suspect tries to resist, a police officer may need to use force. During arrest and before questioning defendants are advised to the constitutional rights, also known as their Miranda rights. The criminal justice procedure begins with arrest, followed by the booking of suspects, arraignment, preliminary hearing, grand jury trial, pretrial hearings, the criminal trial, followed by sentencing. In this paper, I am also going to discuss constitutional protections for the defendant as well as those in place to protect society as a whole. Following arrest, suspects are booked. During booking, which is an administrative procedure, pictures are taken, fingerprints are made, and personal information such as address, date of birth, weight, and height are gathered. Details of the charges are recorded, and an administrative record of the arrest is created. At

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