Courtroom Players

Courtroom Players Response

There are several components or key players that work together to make a courtroom function; each role is needed to successfully complete a trial. There are two categories of participants in a trial: professionals and outsiders or nonprofessional courtroom participants. The group of professionals is what is known as a courtroom work group. A courtroom workgroup includes judges, prosecuting and defense attorneys, and many others who earn their living by serving the court (Schmalleger 2012, p.312).

A courtroom work group must interact with each other on a daily basis in order to keep the courtroom functioning properly. The group must work together in order to form stable working relationships and work toward the common goal of effectively delivering justice. “Stable and familiar relationships among the group members are more likely to lead to close working relationships. This often leads to better negotiations, less reliance on formalities, more utilization of informal arrangements, and the creation of cooperative relationships. Group interactions play a significant role in the way that one group member responds to another” (Mays, Chapter 3, 2011).

One of the major key players in the work group is the prosecutor. Schmalleger (2011) stated, the prosecutor is “an attorney whose official duty is to conduct criminal proceedings on behalf of the state or the people against those accused of having committed criminal offenses” (p. 315). The prosecutor has several duties which cannot be effectively managed by one person which is why there are assistant district attorneys that handle much of the in-court work.

A prosecutor must work with the police department in order to obtain much needed evidence for a trial. Before a trial begins, a prosecutor must decide on the charges to be brought against the accused, examine and determine the strength of evidence to be used, and determines which witnesses to be called for testimony. During a...