Victim Advocate
Victim advocates, also known as witness specialist or victim service providers are professionals within the criminal justice trained to offer support to crime victims in a compassionate and helpful manner. While the role of a victim advocate varies relative to the laws of a state, the roles could be summed into providing information provision, paperwork filing, crisis counseling, and court accompaniment. The role of a victim advocate may as well extend to contacting organizations such as social services and criminal justice that may provide information pertinent to a crime. The pertinent information provided may include; victim’s rights, victimization, crime prevention, criminal justice process, notification of inmates escape or release. Given that the victim possesses the most informed perspective relative to the crime, as opposed to telling the victim what decision to effect, a victim advocate provides the victim with diverse information that aid in reaching the appropriate decision (U.S. Attorneys , 2019).

A Criminal Justice Process

Navigating a criminal justice process can be a complex process but it’s well designed to guarantee to the victim justice. The criminal justice system has experienced notable growth and achievement in the investigation, prosecution, trials, and sentencing. The modern criminal justice system is characterized by the efficient and effective conclusion of criminal offenses, hence administration of higher quality justice. The criminal justice system versatile system that entails the coordination of several separate agencies to deliver justice that ensures safe societies. The system entails agencies both local and federal levels and mainly entails five components that play fundamental roles in the criminal justice process. The components include the law enforcement agencies, prosecution, the court system, defense attorneys and correction centers (Purpura, 1997)

There are several significant steps in a felony criminal process beginning form reporting of crime to the conviction of the offender. The sequence of events can be subclassified into entry into the system (report, investigation, and arrest), Prosecution (Charging, Arraignment, Preliminary Hearing) Adjudication (Trials) and Post Trial (Sentencing, Appeal) (National Center for Victims of Crime, 2019; Frances & Nicholas, 2011)

1. Reporting Crime

The criminal justice process begins with reporting of an alleged crime to the law enforcement agency in a particular state or county which entails sheriffs or police officers (Frances & Nicholas, 2011). Online reporting of crimes through emergency call centers and independent charitable organizations are some of the avenues of reporting a crime. The process for lodging a crime complaint needs to be simplified with more consideration to the victims. The modern society is a digital society, digital communication for crime proceedings becomes paramount.

2. Investigation

The criminal justice process commences with an allegation by a law enforcement officer or private citizen of occurrence of a crime. A statement is filed by the aggrieved victim of the complaining witness to document the crime which is succeeded by an investigation by the law enforcement officer, which involves a crime scene analysis to collect all physical evidence and recording of statements by other witnesses of the crime.

The law enforcement officer investigate the alleged crime to establish evidence to arraigned in court. Evidence could be classified into two: direct evidence and circumstantial evidence. The direct evidence constitutes factual information that doesn’t entail inference. Testimonials by an eyewitness who observed the crime is an example of direct evidence. In this case, a testimonial by Virginia Sufferer serves as direct evidence. On the contrary, circumstantial evidence constitutes testimonials proximal to the criminal act. Circumstantial evidence entails impression, hence it’s not based on first- hand experience (U.S. Attorneys , 2019). In this case, the jewelry found in the accused house serves as circumstantial evidence.

The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution mandates the investigator to establish “probable cause” prior to engaging in search of the an individual, residence, clothes,...…an evaluation on the appropriate sentence. In this case, the accused was well known by the police for his prior arrests and convictions for the sale of narcotics which provides enough grounds for a separate sentence hearing. Prior to the sentencing day, the court would establish an independent agency that provides a sentence report with recommendations on the appropriate sentence given the defendant prior cases.

Jail sentence have become default punishment, resulting in an explosion of prisons, but it may not always be appropriate to low-level crimes. While incarceration may seem as the convenient correction system, it poses a fiscal burden while as well as separating families which destroys our social fabric.

9. Appeal

Upon sentencing, an appeal can be lodged to a higher court if the defendant believes that the conviction was wrong or the sentence was unfair. The defendant raises concerns on possible errors during the trial. Should the ruling be reversed by the appellate court, the case referred back to a trial court for re-trial. Frances & Nicholas (2011) filing an appeal faces double jeopardy contingency which results in retention of the original verdict. The 5th Amendment right against double jeopardy ensures that appeals are only made when reasonable doubt doesn’t exist, and the defense possesses substantial evidence. The clause ensures the credibility of the criminal justice process and protection of the convicted simultaneously (National Center for Victims of Crime, 2019).

Conclusion

There is an increasing public appetitive for an effective justice system. But the key challenge remains; “Justice Vs Fairness”. Too decision errors remain a challenge in the criminal justice system. In some instances, defendants wait too long before trails derailing justice. Hence, there is a need to fast track the trials to ensure that defendants serve their terms sooner. Continuous performance monitoring to improve the criminal justice system to reflect modern day society is imperative.