Legal Rights Afforded to the Accused Research Paper

Legal Rights Afforded to the Accused - Research Paper Example Miranda rights apply to custodial interrogations and since John is held in police custody he qualifies for these rights (Roberson, Wallace and Stuckey, 2007). Ideally, John is an illegal immigrant and as such is expected to face the due process of the law and similar protection provided in the constitution like other United States (US) citizens. He should therefore be accorded help if unable to communicate in native language by being given a translator. If the police officers fail to advise John of the fundamental rights provided in the constitution, any statements made by John may therefore be suppressed if challenged in a court of law meaning that such incriminating statements may not be used against John during his trial. Some procedural steps that must be taken include booking John for the crimes he has been arrested for. His personal belonging are then taken, photographs and fingerprints taken in order to confirm his identity and establish if there are other warrants of arrests issued before (Kempinen, 2006). John should then be arraigned in court before a judge and at this point the judge will decide if there was a need for the arrest. During the arraignment, a judge also decides the amount of bail or if the suspect would be released on recognizance. Nevertheless, considering that John is not a citizen, the immigration department should put him on hold meaning that even if a bail is allowed, he would not be freed without posting an immigration bond. The immigration will then wait from his case to complete and then commence deportation proceedings against John. Preliminary hearing is mainly used to assess adequacy of evidence against a suspect in order to make a decision whether to go to a full trial. On the other hand, a grand jury is where a group of citizens listen to evidence presented to determine if a full trial should commence. Both preliminary and grand jury allows evidence which gives the prosecutor enough evidence to charge the