Naturally because the law and related topics are very rich in details, some of are articles are sometimes lacking these details so this week we will present some large and detailed articles for you and to make the reading easier we will split them in parts. The first one will describe all the stages of a Criminal Case.

0. Crime

The first thing that can be called stage zero is the violation itself. But naturally it can’t be regulated by any rules and lead to the first law related phase – Arrest.

1. Arrest

An arrest is a procedure when a suspected person is taken into police custody. At all the stages of the arrest the police have to protect the constitutional rights of the arrested citizen. Also the charges or the warrant need to be presented to the arrested person within a short period of time (usually 48 hours). The arrest itself can be based on two causes, the first – a suspicion of a police officer and second a warrant. In first case a police officer can arrest a person if he witnesses a crime, or if he has enough facts and circumstances that a person has committed or is about to commit crime, for example if he sees someone in a mask with a gun running away from a robbed bank, this is labeled as Probable Cause. In case of a warrant it has to be signed by a judge and must be based on facts that prove a crime or give enough bases to put the person under suspicion.

The most important thing at this stage is to remember that a person can always dispute the cause for an arrest, the charges or the evidence, but it is best to have these things disputed by an attorney and not during the procedure itself.

2. Booking

After the arrest the next stage is called booking. This is a very important moment because the arrested person has the possibility to contact his or her attorney. Of course if the violation was small the arrested person will most probably fill in some release papers and state that he will appear in court for a decision.

During booking the police usually obtain the data required for the whole case. In the movies we usually see mug shots and fingerprints, but in real life the officers write down the suspects’ name, date of birth, physical characteristics, information about the crime, and search for his criminal background. After that the person gives up any personal property like keys or purse and is placed into a cell. Usually if the crime isn’t very serious the suspect can be bailed out.

3. Bail and Own Recognizance Release

After the suspect is booked he or she can be released through bail. A bail is a sum of money that the suspected person leaves to the court promising that he or she will appear in court when he is ordered to do so. If the person appears in the court, the court refunds the bail sum, if not, the court keeps the sum and issues another warrant for the persons’ arrest. After bail violation the suspect will have no more possibilities to be bailed out.

If the seriousness of the crime or the criminal history of the suspect gives the court some trust in the booked person he or she can be released under a free bail called the Own Recognizance Release. It varies from country to country, but everywhere this type of release requires strong arguments and has lot of limitations.