Prosecution

Roles and Responsibilities of the Crown Prosecution Service (Prosecution) in a Criminal Investigation

The Crown Prosecution Service is a government service which employs prosecution lawyers, these prosecutors will argue a case against suspects (defendants) in court. A prosecutor has many roles and responsibilities, most of which aim to prove beyond reasonable doubt that a person is guilty of the crime that they are being accused of. The prosecutor is involved in the report writing and presentation of evidence in court. Responsibilities of prosecutors include: Communicating with the police, other professionals involved in the investigation and also victims of the crime. Prosecutors do this to gather information about the case and the investigation so that they can gain a full understanding, allowing them to prosecute a case to the best of their ability. Preparing a report combining all the evidence and statements of individuals involved in the case and investigation, this is used within the court case, and the report prepared by the prosecution contains all of the information gathered by each of the professionals involved in the case and information regarding evidence. A final example of a responsibility of a prosecutor is to present evidence in court. The evidence will be presented in front of the judge and if a jury is present, in front of them too. This evidence is a compilation of forensic evidence and any intelligence gathered during the investigation. The presentation of this evidence allows the court to decide if the defendant is guilty or innocent.

Role of Prosecution in the OJ Simpson Case

In the case of the murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman, Marcia Clark was the main prosecutor, representing the state. Clark attempted to convince the jury beyond reasonable doubt that Simpson had murdered Nicole and Ronald. Part of Marcia Clark’s role in the OJ Simpson Case was presenting evidence which had been collected at the crime scene and at the home of OJ Simpson, and then examined by the forensic scientists. This evidence included blood evidence and physical evidence such as the bloody gloves recovered at the murder scene and Simpson’s home. She also presented arguments in court that on many occasions prior to her murder Simpson had severely beaten Nicole, and that she was afraid that he would one day murder her.

Role of Prosecutor in other Investigations

A prosecutor will only be involved in criminal investigations which are presented in court. In any of the investigations the prosecutor’s role will be similar. This is because in any case the prosecutor’s responsibility is to convince the judge or the jury that a defendant carried out the crime that they are being charged with. The only difference that will occur in varying investigations is that the evidence and arguments presented by the prosecution will be different.