Criminal law is one of the branches of law which focus on the safety of the public as well as the public welfare. This branch of law deals with punishing the law offenders who have violated the laws that have been stipulated in the state’s statutes and legislations. Criminal law is based on two e...
Criminal law is one of the branches of law which focus on the safety of the public as
well as the public welfare. This branch of law deals with punishing the law offenders who
have violated the laws that have been stipulated in the state’s statutes and legislations.
Criminal law is based on two elements which helped with the determination of whether one is
guilty or not, and what the charges the guilty will be charged with. The four elements include
Actus reus which means in English the guilty act and Mens rea which is normally referred as
the guilty mind A crime is normally defined as an act of omission or a commission of an act
where the act will have violated a particular law that has been stipulated in the state’s
legislations and the commission of the act will be punishable (Michaels, 30-35).
Once a criminal activity has taken place, an agency dealing with the criminal
investigations tasked with the task of investigating the crime, for example, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation will be called in to investigate the matter. If the crime happened
within the state, the state local police will be charged the task of investigating the particular
crime. The agency charged with the task will do their investigation through the investigators,
on the basis of the evidence presented which is related to the crime and points to a particular
offender.
After the evidence is obtained, an arrest warrant may be issued by the court for the
arrest of the lawbreaker if the evidence presented shows that the perpetrator had probable
cause to commit the act. A warrant to search the premises may also be issued for the
investigators to search the offender’s movable and immovable property which will help the
investigators to gather evidence that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrator. In addition to
the search warrants, the investigators will also examine the crime scene gathering other
evidence as well as examining witnesses to the crime to help them determine who the
offender is (Orfield, 190-199).
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