CJ 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Presentence Investigation Report, George W. Wickersham, Jury Trial
Chapter 1
➢ Criminal Justice vs. Criminology
o CJ= studies of decision-making processes and operations
o Criminology= studies of crime
➢ George Wickersham & the “Wickersham Report” = CJ system barely even a system;
racism, inequality, corruptness
➢ The President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration
o Report = “The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society”: defined the tasks of CJ
system
➢ View of CJ System – Production Process Model vs. The Wedding Cake Model
o Production Process= comparable to manufacturing process (conveyor belt)
o Wedding Cake= different cases treated differently; celebrated , misdemeanor
➢ Goals of CJ System = justice & crime prevention
➢ Stages of CJ Process – 5 phases
o Entry into system
▪ Role of victims= perceive, define, report; ‘principal gatekeepers’ of CJ
system
▪ Reasonable suspicion= belief that someone is up to no good; ‘stop/frisk’
▪ Probable cause= minimum requirement for arrest/warrant; facts that would
lead ‘reasonable’ person to believe something illegal is being done
o Prosecution & pretrial services
▪ Preliminary arraignment= within 24 hrs, judge present with arresting
officer, bail decision, prelim. hearing set (within 10 days)
▪ Preliminary hearing= preview of trial; essentially another ‘probable cause
hearing’ – no jury but prosecutor instead of officer
• Is there enough evidence to “bind defendant over’?
▪ Decision to indict – information vs. indictment
• Information= formal list of offenses (charging document for trial)
prepared by prosecuting attorney
• Indictment= prepared by grand jury
▪ Plea bargaining= always want ‘voluntary guilty plea’ – can happen up
until verdict is in – if no plea is agreed to trial is set
o Adjudication
▪ Formal arraignment= pleas: guilty, not guilty, NGRI, no contest (same
punishment as guilty but leaves room for appeal)
▪ Bench vs. jury trial
• Bench= Judge only
• Jury= Jury with 12 citizens
• (if worried about tainted jury or defense and your case is strictly
legal with no emotion, choose bench)
o Sentencing
▪ Presentence investigation report= info about offender and nature of
offense; prepared by probation/parole officer
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Criminal justice vs. criminology: cj= studies of decision-making processes and operations, criminology= studies of crime. George wickersham & the wickersham report = cj system barely even a system; racism, inequality, corruptness. The president"s commission on law enforcement and administration: report = the challenge of crime in a free society : defined the tasks of cj system. View of cj system production process model vs. The wedding cake model: production process= comparable to manufacturing process (conveyor belt, wedding cake= different cases treated differently; celebrated , misdemeanor . Goals of cj system = justice & crime prevention. Is there enough evidence to bind defendant over": decision to indict information vs. indictment. Information= formal list of offenses (charging document for trial) prepared by prosecuting attorney. Attrition/mortality rate= rate at which #"s decrease in course of cj process b/c offenders diverted out of system. Intent to kill: with malice (knew what he/she was doing, premeditation/deliberation, 2nd degree=