Understanding how criminal procedure works in any state can help you make the right decisions if you are involved in anyway. For the general knowledge, criminal procedures information should help the citizen defend their rights as suspect or as a victim.
The stages of criminal prosecution are one set of information every citizen should be acquainted with and this post just about expound on them. In the following paragraphs, the different stages of criminal prosecution are explained.
First off, criminal prosecution simply means the process involved in prosecuting someone who has been arrested and charged with a crime. A crime is an offense against the state attracts severe punishment like heavy fines and jail term. Those who are convicted of crimes are called criminals and they are prosecuted though a process that include the following stages arrest, indictment, arraignment, trial, conviction and sentencing.
You need to understand them so you know what to expect when you are directly or indirectly involved in a criminal case. A good and qualified criminal lawyer can still help you understand these stages better.