Victim and Crime Analysis

The most obvious and pronounced role of the prosecutor within the criminal justice system lies in presenting the case against the defender on the behalf of the state. In the process of presenting the case against the offender, the prosecutor performs several other roles which include providing details of the case against the offender, comprising of circumstances and facts (Siegel, 2009). The prosecutor also informs the court of the nature and magnitude of the physical or emotional harm subjected to the victim by the offender. The prosecutor assists the court in providing a sentencing range for the case (Siegel, 2009). Additionally, prosecutors provide relevant and applicable case laws and legislation that resonate with case. According to Siegel, the prosecutor also ensures that the court conducts the case proceedings based on truthful information (2009). Hence, the prosecutor prevents the judge from making any errors on the sentencing process that might lead to appeal by the defense. Other additional information provided by the prosecutor within the premise of the case include; victim’s impact statement, the offender’s criminal history and doctor’s description of any injuries or photographs if the offence was inclined towards violence or were sexually-oriented (Siegel, 2009).

The principal role of the defense attorney as the name suggest is to defend a criminal. Every person accused of a crime has a right to a qualified attorney (Barrett, 2007). The defense attorney is expected to provide a rigorous and coherent defense protecting the offender from sentencing. If the defense attorney fails to deliver his services fully to his client as expected, it might lead a mistrial if the offender is convicted. In such a scenario, the client retaliates by accusing the defense attorney of malpractice (Barrett, 2007). The spelt out duties of a defense attorney in the process of defending the client include; presenting a closing and opening statement, questioning and cross-examining the witnesses, and providing a rigorous defense to the court of law especially if the client is guilty (Barrett, 2007). A defense attorney is expected to perform of his or her roles and duties according to the wishes of his client. However, a defense attorney is prohibited by law to assist his or her client in providing in a false statement knowingly under oath (Siegel, 2009).

The criminal is the perpetrator of the offence. The criminal hires a defense attorney or has one appointed to him or her in order to prove innocence of the accusation brought forward against criminal the state. The criminal present himself or herself in the best way possible to prevent incarceration by the court of law (Barrett, 2007).

The role of the convicted victim in the criminal case lies entirely in serving as a witness by providing evidence against the accused and responding to questions asked (Siegel,