Research Report Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Report - Research Paper Example Misdemeanors are petty crimes and felonies are crimes of a more serious nature like the murder in question. 3. The litigants in this case were the people or rather the state against the accused person who in this case is Michael Seaton. When it comes to criminal cases, any offender, the person who commits the crime that is, is considered to have harmed not only the victims of his offence but the entire population of that state through his actions. This explains why criminal cases do not depend on the victims or complainants to bring the case to court for the trial to begin. However, this is not to say that the victims/complainants are of no importance to these trials because they are, through their testimonies in court. The court prosecutors are charged with the duty of defending the interests of the people/state in criminal cases. The court prosecutors initiate the criminal proceeding, but they need the complainants help to give evidence of the accused persons guilt. No court will convict a man without evidence of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case Britni Glover, the littl e boy’s mother was one of the witnesses testifying against Michael to prove his guilt. 4. In all criminal cases, the burden of proof is the task of the prosecution. The term burden of proof simply means the duty or liability of a party to prove their claim or allegation against another party. An accused person is considered innocent until proven guilty. On one hand, since the prosecution - representing the public - brought the case to court they have to be the ones to prove Michael’s guilt. This is where victims of crime or rather complainants in other words like Britni Glover come in to help prosecution prove his guilt. On the other hand, Michael’s duty, was to prove his innocence if he felt the need to. This was optional for him since he could have chosen to let the case take its own cause. 5. With criminal cases if the prosecution, bearing the