The investigator must give the lawyer the pertinent data he needs to assess whether the case being presented to the court merits further investigation. Additionally, he must establish his case "beyond any reasonable doubt." He must resist letting bias, fabrications, and discrimination have an impact on his job. (Gold 2013). He strives to perform his duties impartially. At the conclusion of the legal procedure, he makes sure the courts uphold the rule of law. The prosecutor and the detective frequently collaborate. The final report contains all the information that has been unraveled with regards to the case in court. Some of the data collected include the events leading to the case, evidence obtained, analysis of the evidence, witness information, witness statements, the accused’s statement, and the accused’s information. Secondly, it is the final report which will grant guidance to the court on whether the case should proceed to the trial stage or not. The information presented in the final report should be clear, concise, and sufficient to be used in a court of law to attain justice. Thirdly, the final report will either validate or invalidate the complaint made by the plaintiff.
Impact of poorly completed final reports
The first impact is that it may lead to omission of critical information required for the case. Secondly, a poorly completed final report may result in a guilty person evading justice as the judges fail to find him guilty due to insufficient evidence or information. Thirdly, at the trial stage, the accused may never stand trial if the final report is not prepared well and thoroughly.
Question 2: The Stages of the Criminal Justice Process
There are four major stages of the criminal justice process namely investigation stage, charge stage, discovery and motion stage, and trial stage. The investigation stage is the first process which involves assessment of information provided and collection of evidence. In looking for evidence, the prosecutor is obliged to look into the direct and circumstantial evidence. He should not leave anything to chance as he does his investigation. Sometimes the amount of evidence collected at this initial stage may lead to an arrest of the culprit. The second phase is the charging stage. During the charging stage, the prosecutor determines whether the matter brought before the court is worth pursuing based on his findings in the investigation stage. Consequently, he may either assign charges, not allocate charges or refuse charges as he or she deems fit. Hence, the success of this stage leads to a successful litigated action.
The third stage in the criminal justice process is the discovery and motion stage. This is a pre-trial stage which involves the exchange of evidence and defense filing motions. The prosecution and defense sides of the case share the evidence which they plan to use during the trial in order to “avoid surprises” and prepare their responses. The aspect of sharing evidence and information varies from one state to the other. There are states which do not allow the exchange of evidence because they argue that it gives the defense an upper hand. The motions may lead to some evidence being inadmissible resulting in the necessity of the prosecutor to restrategize.
The final stage is the trial stage which is a point of decision for the prosecutor. He has to decide whether or not he is ready to proceed and have a jury or bench trial or not. The accused, depending on the evidence gathered has many options. He or she may either take a plea bargain or accept responsibility for his crime by pleading guilty. All the four stages are important as they all lead to a successful litigation process (Stelfox 2013).
Question 3: Role of investigator in preparing a case for court
A criminal investigator works hand in hand with the prosecutor to provide evidence used to prove a case. They present the evidence which they believe is important for the case in court. The evidence may either be physical or forensic or both. Additionally, the investigator is tasked with the responsibility of interviewing the witnesses and parties linked to the case (Hess, Orthmann & Cho, 2016). The investigators also prepare exhibits that ought to be used during the trial. Moreover, he drafts reports of his findings. In addition to the outlined roles of the investigator, he also investigates crime scenes. From time to time, he or she may also be called upon to give testimonies in court.
Cooperation between the investigator and the prosecutor
One of the ways that the prosecutor and investigator cooperate during the criminal investigation process is by cataloging evidence and witness testimony together. This way they avoid any mix-up that may arise out of misinformation. Both of them share the information about the witnesses and the evidence that they have collected to build a strong case. A strong case is necessary to catch the attention of the jury and the judges in court.
Secondly, the cooperation enables them to enhance courtroom presentation. They do so by planning the order in which the witnesses will give their testimonies, what questions to ask, their body language, and many other ways of preparation. In the end, their goal is to ensure that the guilty one is punished accordingly while the innocent person is released.
Question 4: Difference between not guilty and acquitted
When a person is declared “not guilty” it means that the court through a bench trial or jury trial has not received sufficient evidence to prove without any reasonable doubt that the crime purported to have been committed was indeed committed. On the other hand, an acquittal means that one is declared not guilty because of not only the insufficient evidence but also based on the jeopardy clause.
Does an acquittal mean that the investigator failed?
Sometimes an acquittal may mean that the investigator did not do a thorough work in collecting and assessing evidence. Lack of sufficient evidence causes the case to be thrown out of court. However, there are times that there might not be evidence available for the case. As such, the investigator will not be blamed. So there are sometimes when lack of evidence is due to an investigator’s laxity and negligence. But there are times when there is genuinely no evidence available for them to gather.
The second argument would be regarding witnesses. The court proceedings require the presence of witnesses to testify about the facts of the case. The witnesses also corroborate the statements presented in court. An individual may be acquitted for lack of witnesses which may not be the investigator’s fault. A witness may refuse to testify in court because they have been threatened, they are shy or afraid of standing before people, or they may have forgotten the actual occurrences of the events leading to the case in court and many other reasons. In this case, the investigator did not fail.
Question 6: Changes bound to occur in criminal investigation
In the next twenty years, criminal investigation is bound to take a new turn with regards to clarity of the photos taken and more reliance on forensic evidence. Technology will advance to the use of closed-circuit cameras. Furthermore, identification will be more biometric than by the use of physical ID. It may also be possible that the use of technology in the presentation of reports and will increase. The investigators will even have an easier time convincing witnesses to testify in court due to the increase in information about the importance of witnessing as part of evidence leading to justice being served. Investigations relating to terrorism may also increase judging by the recent increase in terrorist attacks (Akhgar, Staniforth & Bosco, 2014).
In conclusion, the functions of the investigators and prosecutors are intertwined. The investigators go about interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence. The prosecutor, on the other hand, goes over the evidence and picks what is significant for the case before them. The two present this testimony and witnesses in court before the jury and judges. If the court is convinced that there is a case to be answered, then the claim is upheld. However, whenever the two cannot prove without reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of the crime, then the case may be dismissed. The future of investigating crimes will be influenced more by technology than any other factor. Therefore, the role of both the investigators and prosecutors should be respected and supported for justice’s sake.
References
Akhgar, B., Staniforth, A., & Bosco, F. (Eds.). (2014). Cyber crime and cyber terrorism investigator's handbook. Syngress.
Gold, R. M. (2013). Beyond the Judicial Fourth Amendment: The Prosecutor's Role. UCDL Rev., 47, 1591.
Hess, K. M., Orthmann, C. H., & Cho, H. L. (2016). Criminal investigation. Cengage Learning.
Stelfox, P. (2013). Criminal investigation: An introduction to principles and practice. Routledge.
