The 10 Stages of a Criminal Case

The 10 Stages of a Criminal Case If you have been arrested for a crime, you are at the beginning of what could become a long journey through the criminal justice system. Although the process may vary somewhat from state to state, these are the steps that most criminal cases follow until their case is resolved. Some cases end quickly with a guilty plea and paying a fine, while others can go on for decades through the appeals process. Stages of a Criminal Case ArrestA criminal case begins when you are arrested for a crime. Under what circumstances can you be arrested? What constitutes being under arrest? How can you tell if you have been arrested or detained? This article answers those questions and more. Booking ProcessAfter you are arrested you are then processed into police custody. Your fingerprints and photo are taken during the booking process, a background check is performed and you are placed in a cell. Bail or BondThe first thing you want to know after being placed in jail is how much its going to cost to get out. How is your bail amount set? What if you dont have the money? Is there anything that you can do that might influence the decision? ArraignmentUsually, your first appearance in court after you have been arrested is a hearing called the arraignment. Depending on your crime, you may have to wait until the arraignment to have your bail set. It is also the time that you will learn about your right to an attorney. Plea BargainingWith the criminal court system overwhelmed with cases, only 10 percent of cases go to trial. Most of them are resolved during a process known as plea bargaining. But you have to have something with which to bargain and both sides must agree on the agreement. Preliminary HearingAt the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor tries to convince the judge there is enough evidence to show that a crime was committed and you probably committed it. Some states use a grand jury system instead of preliminary hearings. It is also the time that your attorney tried to convince the judge that the evidence is not convincing enough. Pre-Trial MotionsYour attorney has the opportunity to exclude some of the evidence against you and try to establish some of the ground rules for your trial by making pre-trial motions. It is also the time when a change of venue is requested. Rulings made during this stage of the case can also be issues for appealing the case later. Criminal TrialIf you are truly innocent or if you are not satisfied with any plea deals offered to you, you have the option to allow a jury to decide your fate. The trial itself usually has six important stages before a verdict is reached. The final stage is right before the jury is sent to deliberate and decides on your guilt or innocence. Prior to that, the  judge explains what legal principles are involved with the case and  outlines the ground rules the jury must utilize during its deliberations. SentencingIf you plead guilty or you were found guilty by a jury, you will be sentenced for your crime. But there are many factors that can affect whether you get a minimum sentence or the maximum. In many states,   judges must also hear statements from the victims of the crime before sentencing. These  victim impact statements  can have a significant influence on the final sentence. Appeals ProcessIf you think a legal error caused you to be convicted and sentenced unfairly, you have the ability to appeal to a higher court. Successful appeals are very rare, however, and usually make headlines when they happen. In the United States, everyone accused of a crime is assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and has the right to a fair trial, even if they cannot afford to hire their own attorney. The criminal justice system is there to protect the innocent and seek the truth. In criminal cases, an appeal asks a higher court to look at the record of the trial proceedings to determine if a legal error occurred that may have affected the outcome of the trial or the sentence imposed by the judge.

Free Essays on Communication Disorders

Communication Disorders Communication Disorders encompass a wide range of impairments, mainly dealing with â€Å"receiving, understanding, and expressing information, feelings, and ideas† (Turnbull 400). Normally, people possessing one or more of these disorders have problems with language, speech, or hearing (Kid 1). With new developments in education and methods of therapy, many of these disorders can be improved. Two of the three major types of communication disorders will be discussed within this paper. These include the areas of language and speech. Exceptional Lives defines a speech disorder as â€Å"the difficulty to produce sounds as well as disorders of voice or fluency of speech.† An individual with speech problems may have trouble following directions, speaking at a normal pace, and exhibiting correct syntax and articulation (Kid 1). The typical human is able to learn to speak with no problem, and the progression is somewhat miraculous. While people are unable to document or study the norms of speech development, the abnormalities can and have been thoroughly studied. Some speech impairments include articulation (a speaker’s production of individual or sequenced sounds), voice disorders, and fluency disorders (Turnbull 404-5). Voice disorders reflect â€Å"pitch, duration, intensity, resonance, and vocal quality (Turnbull 405),† while Fluency disorders â€Å"are characterized by a disruption in the smooth flow or expression of speech† (Health 1). Language development is another miraculous, yet â€Å"complex†, facet of life. The five components of language development include â€Å"phonology (sound system), morphology (word forms), syntax (word order and sentence structure), semantics (word and sentence meanings), and pragmatics (social us of language)† (Turnbull 406). To be considered as a speaker of any particular language, a person must possess two distinguishing skills: stimulus and response. If a person u... Free Essays on Communication Disorders Free Essays on Communication Disorders Communication Disorders Communication Disorders encompass a wide range of impairments, mainly dealing with â€Å"receiving, understanding, and expressing information, feelings, and ideas† (Turnbull 400). Normally, people possessing one or more of these disorders have problems with language, speech, or hearing (Kid 1). With new developments in education and methods of therapy, many of these disorders can be improved. Two of the three major types of communication disorders will be discussed within this paper. These include the areas of language and speech. Exceptional Lives defines a speech disorder as â€Å"the difficulty to produce sounds as well as disorders of voice or fluency of speech.† An individual with speech problems may have trouble following directions, speaking at a normal pace, and exhibiting correct syntax and articulation (Kid 1). The typical human is able to learn to speak with no problem, and the progression is somewhat miraculous. While people are unable to document or study the norms of speech development, the abnormalities can and have been thoroughly studied. Some speech impairments include articulation (a speaker’s production of individual or sequenced sounds), voice disorders, and fluency disorders (Turnbull 404-5). Voice disorders reflect â€Å"pitch, duration, intensity, resonance, and vocal quality (Turnbull 405),† while Fluency disorders â€Å"are characterized by a disruption in the smooth flow or expression of speech† (Health 1). Language development is another miraculous, yet â€Å"complex†, facet of life. The five components of language development include â€Å"phonology (sound system), morphology (word forms), syntax (word order and sentence structure), semantics (word and sentence meanings), and pragmatics (social us of language)† (Turnbull 406). To be considered as a speaker of any particular language, a person must possess two distinguishing skills: stimulus and response. If a person u...

Historiography of America's relationship to Saudi Arabia Essay

Historiography of America's relationship to Saudi Arabia - Essay Example The paper tells that historically, The United States of America and the Saudi Arabia have shared a very good diplomatic agreement. For instance, in the middle of Cold War, the two countries upheld a common understanding that â€Å"godless communism† was problematic. This enhanced their diplomatic relationship as they both sought to fight against it. On the one hand, the United States laid a great emphasis on the part of â€Å"communism† while Saudi Arabia focused more on the part of â€Å"godless†. Through these diplomatic relationships, the Americans were considered to be decent people. This was the perception of the Saudi Arabians. This enabled them to cultivate a friendly relationship that existed between the nations. This is unlike the colonialist British whom Saudi Arabia detested seeing as they shared an extremely uneasy relationship. This is notwithstanding the fact that it never culminated into any form of hostilities between Britain and Saudi Arabia. Acc ording to the people of Saudi Arabia, the Americans were far much better than the British and this explains the good relationship between the two countries. The Americans employed the use of its vast technology and skills to accord help to Saudi Arabia in this developmental endeavors. However, Saudi Arabia had to return the favor by giving the Americans huge contracts as well as salaries to enhance the development of the country. Even at the present, it is noted that most of the infrastructure in Saudi Arabia was designed and built by the Americans.

Primary models of international marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Primary models of international marketing - Essay Example This research is being carried out to evaluate and present the primary models of international marketing. These models include, polycentric, ethnocentric and geocentric. Ethnocentric is normally used to refer to refer to assumptions arising from national arrogance. They are conservative and hold the underlying factor that one method used in marketing and manufacturing is adequate and applicable to all other places. They uphold the view that products emanating from their country are superior by default and automatically get accepted in other regions. They do not consider aspects of modification and are not vigorous in their marketing campaigns. Contrary to ethnocentric approach or model, the polycentric approach dwells on the uniqueness of each region it is unveiling its products in. They put extra caution and consideration in regard to the people’s culture and give its products time to be assimilated into the people’s culture. If necessary, they would consider modifying their products to suit the perspective of their new targets. This approach invents new marketing strategies to capture the attention of new customers. On the negative aspect, modifications to fit into each setting may dilute the originality of the initial product and prove expensive for the company too. Considering the unique needs of individuals, cultures or religions in every region may be exhaustive too. Geocentrism embraces a more global approach to business. It levalises the business grounds to all parties as there is no special attention to the original company or the host.

American Revolution Essay Example for Free

American Revolution Essay After the American Revolution, Americans, who had just broken free from the British, completely changed their politics, economy and society. The Founders decided to change how they wanted to run their society, even though, in the end, they went back to a more powerful federal government like Britain. Most people’s daily lives didn’t change much but the principles from the revolution made some try to look for better financial opportunities. Women, slaves, and loyalists were changed a lot in society. Women had more freedoms, some of the slaves were set free, and many loyalists left America. America did not go through much economic change, but it did experience social and political change. Since they had just fought a war to gain their freedom from them, Americans wanted their government not to be similar to Britain’s at all. This is why they implemented the Articles of Confederation that greatly limited federal power. But this government couldn’t raise taxes, or do a plethora of other tasks that were desperately needed, so the people realized their need for a more centralized government. While the new Constitution was still being created and ratified, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay were writing the Federalist Papers in hopes of convincing states to support it. James Madison, in number 51 of the papers wrote â€Å"Ambition must be made to counteract ambition† (Doc I). He was referring to the idea of checks and balances that would be used to ensure that anyone in the federal government would not be able to have too much power, which the people were very wary of. When it was finally ratified, the Constitution was similar to Britain’s government but also different because of their system of checks and balances. There was not much economic change in America after the revolution. The Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture in 1786 gave out a medal, which said, â€Å"Venerate the plough† (Doc F). This exhibits how the elite were still trying to help the common people who weren’t financially better off than before the revolution, but it didn’t make much difference. Similarly, in Shay’s Rebellion, Yeoman farmers in Massachusetts, according to Abigail Adams’ letter to Thomas Jefferson, â€Å"were crying out for a paper currency, some for an equal distribution of property† (Doc G). Shay’s Rebellion symbolizes the economic troubles that the poor had to deal with. The social change was the biggest change that happened in America. After the Revolution, the place of women, slaves, and loyalists in society was greatly altered. In order to teach justice and liberty to their children, women were educated in the ideals of Republican Motherhood. In a woodcut of a patriot woman made in 1779, a woman is shown with a rifle and gunpowder horn (Doc A). Some women did play bigger roles in society by going with the fighting soldiers and sometimes even fighting with them in the revolution. However, not all women were satisfied to just go back to the earlier place in society they were at before the war as shown by Molly Wallace who said during her valedictory address in 1792, â€Å"if [taught] to read, why not to speak? † (Doc J). Many American women, like Wallace, sought after advancing their roles in society. But sadly, women suffrage didn’t happen for 140 years. For slaves in some regions, there was a lot of social change. In the years after the revolution, the slave owners in the North practiced manumission, and freed many slaves there. In the South, however, it would take many more years and a Civil War for the slaves to gain their freedom. There were more actions against slavery, though. The Northwest Ordinance in 1787 stated, â€Å"There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory† (Doc H), outlawing the spread of slavery in new states in hopes that eventually, states without slavery would exceed the states with it and be able to abolish it everywhere. The loyalists or â€Å"Tories† also went through significant change in society. Since they had favored Britain during the way, after it, they were became a widely hated. The Pennsylvania Packet says â€Å"Never let [the Tories] return to this happy land† (Doc B). They went through so much change in society that countless loyalists left America, never to return. Politically, Americans underwent some change by creating a new government even though they still altered it in the end. Economically, there were still elites who ruled over the lower, poor class of people. And socially, a large amount of change occurred for women, slaves and loyalists, although the change in the place of loyalists was extremely negative. In these ways, American society was changed in respect to political and social life, but not economically.

Children’s Literature in Jamaica Essay -- essays papers

Children’s Literature in Jamaica As children in the United States, we grow up listening to the stories of Dr. Seuss and Curious George as we fall off to sleep to the sound of our parent’s voices echoing in our dreams. As we start to grow older and the poetry of Shel Silverstein’s, "Where the Sidewalk Ends" no longer holds our imagination as much as it did at eight years old, we begin to read stories that are a reflection of the environment we live within. We engaged ourselves in the lives of such characters as the Hardy Boys and Willy Wonka. What these stories lacked however, are the social issues that are ever present in today’s society. Not all of American children’s literature is without social content, but the literature many of us grew up with was about adventure and mystery. On the other hand, Caribbean children’s literature tends to base its work on survival. The stories of Jamaican folklore for example, tell the tales of the original inhabitants of the Caribbean Island and how they survived colonialism, slavery, poverty, and racism. From generation to generation these stories have been passed down in their original form through oral history. Oral tradition is a method that I believe is no longer preserved in American culture. Rarely do you read of an individual who was sat down on his grandparent’s knee to hear the childhood stories he or her was told by their grandparents before them. In today’s society, all a child has to do to be entertained is turn on the television, or log on to the internet to hear and read the rhetoric of today’s entertainment industry. Whether it is a lack of communication between parent and child, or a loss of innocence, the tradition of a parent telling the story of his or her ancest... ...ren are forced to deal with throughout life. Bibliography Berry, James, Everywhere Faces Everywhere, Simon and Schuster Publishing, New York, 1996 Bolden, Tonya, Rites of Passage: Stories About Growing Up by Black Writers from Around the World, Hyperion Books for Children, New York, 1994 Dance, Daryl, Folklore from Contemporary Jamaicans, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1985 Dawes, Kwame, Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology of Reggae Poetry, Goose Lane Publishing, Canada, 1998 Jekyll, Walter, Jamaican Song and Story, Dover Publications, New York, 1966 Jennings, Linda, A Treasury of Stories from Around the World, Kingfisher Publishing, New York, 1993 Ribelli, Piero, Jah Pickney: Children of Jamaica, Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston, Jamaica, 1995 Sherlock, Philip, West Indian Folk-tales, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 1966

American Political Theory

The Jacksonian Period is usually associated with Andrew Jackson. Basically Jackson followed in what Thomas Jefferson already started. The Jacksonian era valued the rights of common man. The democracy in this particular era endorsed the power of the executive branch as well as that of the president’s. It also allowed a broad range of public involvement in the government. Thus during these times different rights were respected such as women’s rights, economic rights for factories and the like.Thus, the Jacksonian era showed more concern on common man and thus they did not see them merely as a tool or as a means towards some ends as can be seen nowadays. Nowadays the same kind of values and beliefs are slowly dissolving. Usually the Bush government treats their subjects simply as means to achieve his goals. He is more concerned on profits rather than on man himself. This is basically present on the act on immigration that he supports, the S.1348 wherein he gives false hope s to immigrants and giving prime importance to profit rather than on the immigrants themselves. Another aspect which could be found is the 5-4 vote pattern. During the election the pattern five is to four is very dominant. There are still 175,000 ballots that were not yet counted and still they already proclaimed Bush as the winner. 5 associates of the US Supreme Court interfered with the manual count in Florida.These five are Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, O'Connor, and Kennedy. These five conservatives are also responsible for some violations of human rights such as banning of abortion even though the mother’s and the fetus life are in danger, rejecting appeals from prisoners and the like. Thus in this regard we could see how very undemocratic our government had become as compared from the Jacksonian era. The decisions on votes and other rights are no longer decided by the common people.Those in power are very manipulative taking their own interests first more than tha t of the public’s. Liberty and equality is basically no longer on the people’s hands rather it was on the hands of the select few. Thus dealing with terms like liberty and equality are rather difficult especially if they fall on deaf ears as could be seen on the 5-4 voting patterns. (Toobin). References: Doherty, Kieran. Andrew Jackson : America's 7th President. New York: Children's Press, 2003. Toobin, Jeffrey. â€Å"Five to Four. † The New Yorker 2007.