The dilemma the court system faces is whether the priest should be forced to testify in court or if he shall be allowed to keep silent in accordance to his seal of confession. By forcing the priest to testify, this would allow for the truth to exposed about what happened between the girl and the abuser. Father Bayhi would also be acting as a witness to the case because the girl told him in confidence about what she had been experiencing, thus proving the now dead abuser’s guilt or innocence. By allowing the priest to keep his seal of confession, it would allow the priest to keep his seal of
The legal factors of this case are the level of crime that has been committed is a very high-level. The strength of the evidence is not to strong since the detectives did not thoroughly go over fingerprints or follow up on what had been the alibis. The detectives thought the eyewitness and forced confession would be enough to close this
Confession might seem imprudent to a suspect who is sure of his own innocence. In many cases, the confessor would mourn in tears for the court and town’s
All parties involved, the defendant and the victim (if still alive), are allowed a complete criminal investigation and trial, that is unbiased in order to allow a fair judgement in the case. This unbiased system is rooted in the willpower of obtaining the truth in legal matters by including all possible and relevant information. The political origins grounded in the inquisitorial system are seen in the organizational and procedural arrangements, which allow the state to find the truth while being subjected to the judicial scrutiny of the executive laws. The events that occur during trial are determined by the dossier because it includes all necessary information in regards to the case, which is gathered and created during the pre-trial investigation. The inquisitorial system places a lot a high regard on the dossier because it helps determine who is to be accused and who is to be put on trial.
Another prisoner at the jail said Miguel confessed to him and he testified for a reduced sentence (Cameron). This shows the prisoner lied to get a reduced sentence. 15% of wrongful convictions had another prisoner confessed against the victim (Cameron). The author states this to show how prisoners will lie for reduced sentences and plea deals. In the modern era of the death penalty, Around half of the death row inmates who have been wrongfully convicted have been convicted by prison informants (Balko).
The judicial system is very important in the administration of justice for any society. Functions of the system are clearly stipulated and defended by the constitution of any nation. For a judge to pass a ruling on a suspect, the trial has to go through several stages before a final ruling is arrived at. Thus, one would believe the judgments made are considered fair making the judicial system a defender of justice and fairness.
In order for a person to be found guilty of a crime, two elements must be present which are the actus reus (guilty act) and the mens rea (guilty mind). The first part of this essay seeks to consider the liability for homicide offences and also assess whether Jason, Welch, Ellis and Stevens have any potential defences based on the crimes they committed. P360 Will Jason be held liable for the death of pinky? Pinky suffered harm from Jason’s act, in a situation like this, we would need to look at s. 18, s. 20 and s. 47 of the offences against the person act 1861.
• Plea-bargaining weakens the criminal justice system with the concept that if all cases went to trial the court system would be unable to support the workload. This is a factor that can be disputed by jurisdictions that have ban plea bargaining and continued to operate appropriately. Plea-bargaining is known as the agreement in a criminal court proceeding that is made between a defendant and a prosecutor. Plea bargains typically involve a lesser sentence in return for an omission of wrongdoing. Plea bargains do not forsake the criminal justice system, however they do allow for a speedy exit strategy for prosecutors.
The aspect of psychology and law research from this week is correlated to the week four-course material is most relevant to the topic of interrogations and false confession techniques that are used by the detectives. In the case that was presented in the documentary West of Memphis is an investigation of a failure of justice in Arkansas. The interrogation methods from the detectives lead to a false confession. A false confession is an admission to a criminal act that the confessor did not commit (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014, p. 165).
It is a very important responsibility that everyone should take seriously because the fate of another person is on his or her shoulders. Juries are there to decide “guilty” or “not guilty” based on the facts and evidence presented. This paper will
Victim-Offender reconciliation(mediation) and Conferencing in Prisons There are many restorative justice practices that have been developed over the past many years. However, most of these practices are employed and adopted in community settings, including the Victim-Offender Reconciliation(mediation) and conferencing. This program first introduced in Canada around early 1970’s in Ontario as an experiment with the name of Victim Offender Mediation(Dhami et al, 2009).
Historically, African Americans have faced discrimination in the criminal justice systems. During the early 1800’s, the system has formed laws to discriminate against African Americans. These laws are recognized as the Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were regulations passed after slavery that created different guidelines for African Americans and Caucasians (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2016) These decrees were purposely put in place to hinder African Americans from interacting with Caucasians.
Being convicted of a crime that you had nothing to do with must be the most frustrating feeling in the world. Although I had already started a previous research paper, my interest and attention was caught when I viewed an in class video by the name of The Farm: Angola, USA. There were two individuals named George Crawford and Vincent Simmons whose case caught my attention. George Crawford and Vincent Simmons case sounded a little sketchy in my opinion, and the thought of them being wrongfully convicted came to my mind. Although my paper is not about them, their stories inspired me to research about wrongful convictions and exonerations.
Assignment #1 Review questions Chap. 1 p. 26: 1. A single standard of ethics cannot be applied to all criminal justice agencies. The world is too complex to legislate morality and ethics. The cultures that make up each part of the world are not the same.
To be a good interrogator it requires more than confidence and creativity although it does help, but interrogators are very well trained in the mental tactics of social impact. An interrogators task is to get someone to confess to a crime, but it is not easy. While it isn’t easy for them, sometimes they will end up with confessions from the innocent testifies because of the expertise in psychological manipulation interrogators have. The interrogation process has been manipulated over the years and they are using unethical approaches to gain information or a confession from suspects. But in the law of confessions, it is required that confessions are not coerced but be voluntary so that it is admitted into evidence.
