Criminal Investigation Procedures

A criminal investigation is the process of judging the claim that a person has violated criminal law of a country. If any individual is accused of having committed a crime, the legal structure of the country demands that a criminal investigation be carried out.. The process of a criminal investigation involves a number of detailed procedures starting from issuing an arrest warrant against the suspected individual to the conduction of a trial. The various steps are:

* Issuing of a warrant: An arrest warrant is an official statement granting rights to the officer holding it to arrest the individual the warrant has been issued against. An arrest warrant prevents people from being arrested against unfair charges. The Fourth Amendment makes the issue of a warrant compulsory for this purpose.

* Arrest: Upon producing an arrest warrant, the suspect may be arrested. In some cases however, an arrest warrant is not necessary. An individual may be arrested without a warrant if he/she is caught while committing a crime. The arrested is presented before the judicial authorities within six hours of arrest. Within 24 hours of arrest, he/she is presented before a judge when it is decided whether or not to he will undergo pre-trial detention.

* Pre-trial detention:  After an arrest and before the beginning of the preliminary investigation, a pre-trial detention is necessary in many crimes like those involving narcotics.

* Preliminary investigation: The prosecutor’s office conducts the preliminary investigation for criminal cases. During this part of the criminal investigation, concrete evidences against the suspect are sought out and gathered. The prosecutor is generally allowed three months to complete his search for evidence. Sometimes exceptions are made and an additional three months are granted only if the prosecutor is able to provide solid grounds for the extension.

* False intermedia: In this phase of the investigation procedure, the prosecutor presents the evidence and the defense lawyer may contest it. At the end, upon the presentation of the evidence, the judge hearing the case decides if it should proceed to hearing or whether it should be provisionally closed.

* Trial: This is probably one of the most important stages of any criminal investigation. A trial consists of two parts- a preparatory phase and an oral trial. In the former, both the parties involved in the case present the evidence and witnesses they have gathered. In the later part of the trial, an oral hearing is conducted in front of the jury.

The Sixth Amendment gives the individual under trial the right to question the jury about its impartiality. The evidence is re-introduced and is examined and cross-examined orally in front of the judges. At the end of it, the jury declares its decision. The suspect is either found guilty or is declared innocent and freed of all charges. In case he is found guilty of the crime, the court decides the sentence he/she is to serve.

* Appeal: After the trial court announces its verdict, an appeal can be made on the grounds of invalid functioning of the law. Appeals can in general be made at any stage of the entire process. However, the Constitution does not allow appeals against a criminal conviction.