Federal Criminal Justice System

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When an individual is accused of a crime, there are numerous steps the federal criminal justice system must take in order to serve righteousness. The steps through the federal criminal process are: investigation, charging, arraignment, discovery, plea bargaining, preliminary hearing, pre-trial motions, trial, post-trial motions, sentencing and appeal. The investigation of a crime can begin in various ways such as an officer observing a possible drunk driver speed on the highway, a 9-1-1 call stating there have been shots fired in a neighborhood or even a person stating they’ve been subject fraud. Once the investigation has begun, there are many agencies that staff criminal investigators to accumulate and provide information to attorneys in the respective district of the crime. Examples of such agencies: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement …show more content…

The agencies investigate the crime and obtain such evidence to help prosecutors understand all the elements of the case. Depending on the situation, the first step may actually be an arrest. If responding police officers have enough probable cause to arrest a suspect, they will do so. In some situations, the investigation step may involve a search warrant. A search warrant is required by The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution and entails police officers to have probable cause before they search a home, car, other property and/or individual’s clothing. There are situations where a warrant may not be required because the situation is deemed an emergency or an exigent circumstance. Within the investigation step, the prosecutor needs to look at both direct and circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence is evidence that supports facts without implication. An example of direct evidence could be an