Criminal Justice, Essay Example

In the United States, all evidence presented in courts need to be admissible and relevant. As such, the factors determining this include relevance, material, and competence (67). The requirement of the Constitution is that each element presented needs to prove the existence of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Material relevance should be established in order to make the point in question to become more probable than not, but this system is not working since evidence collected is cumulative. Secondly, inquiry holds for the establishment of relevance in inferred cases to be more probable than others. This system is feasible and requires that all scenarios are heard before introduction. Thirdly, evaluation as stated by John Henry Wigmore needs to be of “plus value” in relation to the item in question (67). Here, evidence was deemed relevant in situations where probative value was greater of an item than the minimal. Lastly, introductions carry a lot of weight and tend to demonstrate the truth of evidence collected more than the absence of the point.

Presumption is defined as a deduction or conclusion obligatory by law and it may be drawn. Unlike inferences, deductions with sufficient evidence shown helps in overcoming a presumption (85). Prosecution presents the presumption in a logical assumption as stated by law, and thus, beyond a reasonable doubt it must be established. An inference is also known as a permissive presumption, which is a fact that a jury may, but need not infer. Therefore, the existing between a presumption and an inference is that, a presumption is a rule of law while an inference is permissible constitutionally.

From the definition, a judicial notice is a term used to signify an action by the courts. As a result, it helps the court in determining facts without having to involve the jury with their examination formalities. Therefore, the courts have been given the power to make an irrefutable statement to the jury, which is an act of streamlining the process of the criminal justice. The existences of the judicial notice are in climates where procedural safeguards attempt to promote fairness to criminal defendants (86). However, it should be noted that the notice is limited to facts.

Officers have a right to detain a private citizen temporarily because of the evidence collected. The officers detain the citizen in order to help them with information that will help in solving the crime in question. Having a private citizen in their custody helps them in retrieving information relevant to the case. In my opinion, the officers should be accorded this right, but with limits. For example, if one is at home officers should restrain from arresting them in front of their children because it brings about psychological torture. Furthermore, they should not apply force while carrying out the arrest. For example, the case of Steve Jackson Games, Inc illustrates excessive power by the Secret Service Officers (99). They should not go to the extent of deleting information from the suspect’s computer since transmission was offline. Furthermore, it was under stored boards and thus, the messages were not a threat to the government operations.

Technological advances receive a minimal amount of protection with regard to the right of privacy of their individual files, administrative networks, and workplace computers. Interpretations made are inconsistent in nature, and this has led to the lack of demarcation. In my opinion, the right to privacy needs to encompass technological advances because a majority of the individuals use computers to store their data and other important information (96). As a result, during invasions, officers will delete all information not considering the importance of the selected files. Suspicions made make individuals loose a lifetime work within a short time due to lack of evidence.

Preparation, documentation, and execution by law are requirements for a physical search warrant. A probable cause must be shown to the court or judge and is accompanied by an affidavit, and the warrant does not go beyond the “four corners” (100). Staleness and particularity are also essential elements to be considered (101).