Need help providing concrete examples of when and how each of following officials of criminal justice system (law enforcement officer, the prosecutor, and the judge) might appropriately exercise discretion at six stages of criminal procedure:
- The investigation stage
- The arrest stage
- The pretrial stage
- The trial stage
- The appeal stage
- The serving the sentence stage
One or more of these officials will have little or no involvement in all six stages of criminal procedure; however, for each stage, indicate which official has the power to exercise discretion and how that discretion can be legitimately exercised by that official.
Then, suggest guidelines that are now, or that could legitimately be, imposed by law to limit the arbitrary use of each official's power of discretion. Provide support or examples for each of the guidelines that you have suggested.