Decision to Charge

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The Decision to Charge
At this stage, one is still only a suspect as far as the law is concerned even if he has already been taken into police custody and interrogations have already been made. The main question at this stage is whether to charge the individual and if enough evidence has been collected to establish that the suspect is guilty in the event the case proceeds to trial (Zehr, 78). The screening decision is made at this stage where it is decided if the suspect should continue being held for further stages of the criminal justice process.
This stage is more influenced by the due process in various ways. First, not all arrests lead to prosecution hence the process of screening cases still plays a vital role. However, the only appropriate place for this screening to occur is before a magistrate as the prosecutor alone cannot be trusted to do all the screening process (Feeley, 125). The due process dictates that it is illogical to leave all the decision making to the prosecutor who has nobody watching over his shoulder to decide if there is enough evidence to charge a suspect as he some may tend to be biased in the decision (Vogler, 342).
However, by having a preliminary hearing set before a magistrate and the suspect should be present at the hearing as well as have a counsel by his side. All the evidence gathered by the prosecution that is admissible at trial is presented before the magistrate. This evidence will help the magistrat…