Judicial process and legal proceedings

Judicial Process

The 6th Amendment Confrontation Clause exists to protect the right of a defendant to confront those who are testifying against him or her. This means that the defendant has the right to face those making the accusations in a court of law (Revolutuionary War and Beyond, 2011). There are two main purposes to the Confrontation Clause. The defendant receives protection from statements made outside the court that can be used against him or her, where there is no opportunity to test or challenge these statements. The second purpose is that the Clause provides the defendant the opportunity to determine the truth of the statements against him or her by means of cross-examination.

In this way, the defendant is also protected from hearsay, where a statement is alleged to have been heard outside of the court, without any witnesses to verify it. In my understanding, this clause therefore means that a defendant must be present when he or she is accused of a crime, and that this witness should be able to defend him- or herself against such accusations. This is a fundamental right within the American court of law.

According to the Revolutionary War and Beyond (2011) Web site, statements made out of court in the form of affidavits or written testimony can be allowed in civil cases, but not often in criminal cases. This is because a criminal conviction has serious consequences, and testimony should therefore be received and confronted in a more immediate way.

Statements by witnesses who are no longer available, such as witnesses who died or moved away, are allowed only when the prosecutor has made every effort to find the witness for an appearance in the court.

In the United States, plea bargaining means that the terms of convictions are being negotiated. According to the Encyclopedia for Everyday Law (2011), more than 90% of criminal convictions are the result of plea bargaining. This is a critical process, since the main advantage of plea bargaining is that overcrowded dockets can be alleviated somewhat by entering fewer cases into trial. The cases that do go to trial can then receive more attention and be handled with greater care. Another advantage is that lower prison sentences resulting from plea bargaining also alleviates the pressure on the overcrowded prison system. When lesser offenses are at issue, plea bargaining can result in lower prison sentences and reduce the pressure on the judicial system as a whole.

The advantage of plea bargaining for prosecutors is that it assures a conviction, even if this is a lower sentence for a lesser crime. For the defendant, the advantage is a lesser conviction, whereas a trial might result in a more severe sentence.

The role of the prosecutor is to convict the guilty and ensure that the innocent are not convicted. It is the role of the prosecutor to that the true facts surrounding a crime revealed (Rosenthal, 2011). The defense attorney, on the other hand, is obliged to defend the accused, regardless of innocent or guilt. The role of this person is therefore to present the defendant with the best defense possible, which is his or her right according to American law.