Legal_Rights_of_the_Justice_System

Legal Rights of the Justice System A defendant has a right to be competent at trial, he must be mentally competent to understand the nature of trial proceedings, if not trial must be postponed until such time he’s found to be competent and capable to participate in his trial. The defendant can be tested at again at any time during the trial if it is believed they are unable to communicate with counsel rationally, or now doesn’t understand the trail proceedings. Also in 1992 a case involving Riggins v Nevada the U.S Supreme Court ruled that forced treatment of defendant is allowed and does not violate his rights if it is medically necessary or for the defendants or others safety. This treatment could force the defendant to become ready to stand trial by the methods taken. If this right was no longer upheld, trials would be unfair to the defendant. There would be prisons full of mentally incompetent people that do not know how to function in prison and some of who may possibly be innocent. Having mentally incompetent in prison can be dangerous; they could be taken advantage of if not hurt or killed. The Sixth Amendment also gives all accused the right to confront their witnesses in criminal cases. This right doesn’t apply to murder case where witness is deceased, or child abuse cases which seeing the abuser may do more harm. This includes the right to appear in person at trial, but may choose not to or be removed if not acting appropriately in court. Having the witness in court and under oath makes it less likely they will lie. It allows the court and jury to the witness and judge for themselves credibility. If the witness lies while under oath they are subject to be arrested for perjury. If the confrontation right was no longer upheld, we could and possibly would have people accusing others of crimes they didn’t commit. They accused would have no way to defend themselves except by their word and any evidence that may be available. The right to confront witnesses is vital to the legal system. Right to a speedy trial is to avoid delay that would affect the abilities fro defendant to defend themselves; it helps avoid lengthy pretrial detainment. There is not a set time frame to define speedy trial, but in (pg391) in Doggett v United States after eight and a half years between being indicted and arrested was prejudicial and the defendant was to be released with charges dropped. In this case there was no speedy trial. While the defendant has a the right to a speedy trial, the public, victim(s), families and friends have a right to a conclusion of the case so they can get closure and move forward with their lives. Without a speedy trial in our legal system, we would have bias judges, officers, court officials making sure the defendant case didn’t make it to the docket to be heard. There would be people sitting in jail waiting for their day in court that may not come for years if ever. The right to a speedy trial needs to always be upheld. Right to counsel, gives people the right to speak to counsel to help prepare for trial and to know what to say or not to say. This right stays in effect during the whole trial. The defendant should invoke their right to counsel as soon as an arrest is made or being questioned as a suspect but not arrested, making it clear they do not want to speak with the interrogator. Having counsel is important because they understand what they prosecution and judge are saying about the charges, the sentence in prison you may get, and honestly most don’t care if your innocent or not if they have enough circumstantial evidence against you. So you need to have counsel on your side to be sure everything that happens before, during and after trial is fair. Without the right to counsel, there would be more overcrowding in prisons then there are now. I’m certain most would be guilty, but there would be a high percentage that would be innocent all because they didn’t have counsel at time of trial. We cannot lose the right to counsel in our justice system. . Reference Siegel, L. J. (2014). Introduction to criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub Co. Competency to Stand Trial | Competency Assessment & Evaluation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://forensicpanel.com/expert_services/psychiatry/criminal_law/competency_to_stand_trial.html The Confrontation Clause. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nationalparalegal.edu/conlawcrimproc_public/RightsAtTrial/ConfrontationClause.asp Speedy Trial | Criminal Justice Section. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/publications/criminal_justice_section_archive/crimjust_standards_speedytrial_blk.html Publications - Alameda County District Attorney's Office. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://le.alcoda.org/publications http://le.alcoda.org/publications/files/RIGHTTOCOUNSEL.pdf