Criminal Procedure and Scripture

The criminal procedure encompasses numerous legal processes with the primary goal of upholding law and justice in any ruling. The scripture confirms prior knowledge and understanding of how criminal procedures are executed. The opinion and allegations of one person cannot be sufficient to prosecute anyone for any crime. “One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed: Criminal Procedure and Scripture.

A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses” (New International Version, 2011, Deut. 19:15). There must be two or more witnesses testifying against the defendant. Criminal prosecutors must investigate the case to prosecute the defendant or dismiss the charges.

The defendant and the witnesses present their allegations before a judge for a trial to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. There must be enough and uncompromised proof to convict a person of the crime (New International Version, 2011, Deut. 22:13-18).

Once the law enforcement officers suspect that a particular crime has been committed, an investigation is initiated to gather evidence to support the allegations, including assessing forensic data and interviewing witnesses (Zbiciak & Markiewicz, 2023). If a suspect involved in the crime is identified, an arrest is made. The accused is brought before a judge, who informs them of what they are being charged with.

If they plead not guilty, the case proceeds to trial, where the accused, accusers, and witnesses present their allegations before a judge or a jury. Based on the evidence presented, the judge rules in the case by declaring the defendant innocent or guilty. If the accused is convicted of the crime, they are informed of their punishment if no appeal is made.

The current criminal system should adhere to its mandate of exercising fairness and justice in its legal proceedings. However, reforms and policies should be developed to end money bail, which is often offered for pretrial release. The practice perpetuates inequity in the justice system, as the high-income population benefits from it while the middle- and low-income populations are disadvantaged. Additionally, racial disparities should be addressed in sentencing.

References

The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV). (2011). Biblica, Inc. (Original work published 1984).

Zbiciak, A., & Markiewicz, T. (2023). A new extraordinary means of appeal in the Polish criminal procedure: The basic principles of a fair trial and a complaint against a cassatory judgment. Access to Justice in Eastern Europe, 6(2), 25–42. https://doi.org/10.33327/ajee-18-6.2-a000209

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Each of the scriptures below concern a given criminal procedure topic. All scriptures are from the New International Version, 1984. Begin this assignment by meditating on the given scriptures. You may even want to pray about them.

Psalm 119:18 recommends this prayer: “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” Once you have done that, answer the questions below.

Witnesses

• Deuteronomy 19:15 “One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
• Deuteronomy 17:6 “On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.”

Cross Examination

• Proverbs 18:17 “The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.”
• Deuteronomy 19:16–19 “If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you.”
  

  Criminal Procedure and Scripture

Physical Evidence

• Deuteronomy 22:13–18 “If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” then the girl’s father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate. The girl’s father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, and the elders shall take the man and punish him.”
• Exodus 22:12-13 “But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner. If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, he shall bring in the remains as evidence and he will not be required to pay for the torn animal.”

Answer the following questions for your thread:

• Did these scriptures change or confirm your views about how criminal procedure should operate according to each topic?
• How does our current system deal with each topic?
• How could our current system change (or not) to deal with each topic in a more biblical manner?

Please review the Discussion Assignment Instructions prior to posting. You may also click the three dots in the upper corner to Show Rubric.

Post-First: This course utilizes the Post-First feature in all Discussions. This means you will only be able to read and interact with your classmates’ threads after you have submitted your thread in response to the provided prompt.

Submit your thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday of Module 7: Week 7.