Analysis and Application: Legal Rights Afforded to the Accused
The following case study presents issues related to the legal rights afforded the accused and the reasons those rights are provided to all individuals under our system of criminal justice.
Case Study:
John Doe is an individual that left his country in an effort to make a better life. However, he does not have legal status in America and was recently arrested for shoplifting merchandise, which was valued over $1,000. At the time of his arrest, John voluntarily began to make incriminating statements to the arresting officers. At the police station, detectives conducted an interview of John asking him about the theft. John Doe has had no prior arrests, is 35 years old, and most of John Doe’s family still resides in his home country. Due to the amount of money involved, the crime is deemed a felony and John was arrested and placed in the county jail in Toms River, NJ. He is going to face the judge in the Ocean County Superior Court; however, he has no money for bail.
Please discuss the following questions, explaining your answers in detail by analyzing the facts presented and other factors you consider relevant; defining and explaining key legal terms and principles; and citing legal authority (your text and other legal authority) to support your conclusions in a 2 – 3 page paper (excluding the title page and reference page).
1. Since John was in custody, what are the procedural steps the police were required to take once John began to incriminate himself?
2. What procedural steps must the officers perform following John’s arrest and interview at the police station?
3. The court could choose either a preliminary hearing or a grand jury proceeding to establish probable cause for the felony charges in this case. Compare and contrast the two procedures.
4. Identify what issues the judge would take into consideration when setting bond for John.
5. Explain what an arraignment is and what occurs during an arraignment.
Further instructions from Professor on this case study:
First, the scenario set out in this assignment involves John Doe who does not have legal status in the U.S. You should do a little research and then write an initial paragraph before answering the questions about what impact Mr. Doe’s illegal immigration status might have on this situation. In other words, does he have the same rights an American citizen has once he encounters the criminal justice system? Also, there is a question in the assignment about bail and you will need to know how his immigration status impacts bail. You will need to do a little research to answer this question.
Next, type out each question and answer each question. The first question is:
1. Since John was in custody, what are the procedural steps the police were required to take once John began to incriminate himself?
2. This question is one in which students often make mistakes. After reading question number one go back and read the facts carefully. Question number one is a bit trickier than it looks. This answer should be a two part answer as there are two separate situations occurring in the facts. ***Hint: Note the word “voluntary” and note the word “interview.”
3. What procedural steps must the officers perform following John’s arrest and interview at the police station?
Students often don’t notice the word “officers” in this question and will talk about the prosecutor or judge or arraignment. Don’t do that. You will want to refer to chapter three to answer this question.
4. The court could choose either a preliminary hearing or a grand jury proceeding to establish probable cause for the felony charges in this case. Compare and contrast the two procedures.
We hit hard on this in the seminar for Unit Three. You may want to go back and listen to that seminar or make sure to read the seminar script and / or the text again. You should compare the two proceedings by telling me how they are the same. Remember that the word “contrast” means to tell me the differences. Additionally, you should cover all of the differences between these two proceedings.
5. Identify what issues the judge would take into consideration when setting bond for John.
Two common mistakes that students make with this question are: 1) they do not use the text to list all of the factors and will only choose one or two. Don’t do that. Tell me all of the factors the court will consider and 2) Once students tell me the factors they forget to apply them to John Doe. Make sure you look how each factor applies to John Doe’s situation. Once you do that tell me what you think the Judge will do about setting bond for John Doe. Don’t forget his illegal status.
6. Explain what an arraignment is and what occurs during an arraignment.
In this question you can use the terms “initial appearance / first appearance” interchangeably with the term “arraignment.” There are at least four things that can happen at an arraignment. Two of these are required by law. The other two, may or may not occur. Make sure to explain the difference.
More Guidance for Writing Papers:
All papers for this course require that you use APA style. This means you must use a cover page, running heads on each page, double spacing and a reference page.
Remember that 20% of your grade comes from your writing quality. Review the grading criteria posted in Doc Sharing
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