Criminal Courts - Chapter 5

Courtroom workgroup

▪ There are multiple “court actors,” meaning legal officials, who operate

inside of courtrooms and who have (1) specialized roles/responsibilities

and (2) regularly work together to process civil & criminal cases.

▪ These officials include:

▪ judges

▪ prosecutors

▪ defense attorneys

▪ defendants

▪ plaintiffs (in civil matters)

▪ others: victims, jury, court administrators, & language interpreters

▪ Together, they are referred to as the “courtroom workgroup.

Prosecutors

▪ In criminal prosecutions, no courtroom workgroup member is,

arguably, more powerful than prosecutors.

▪ Prosecutors are primarily responsible for:

▪ bringing charges against individuals who are accused of a crime

▪ representing the government’s interest in court

▪ Operate in both federal & state courts

Importance of prosecutors

▪ Central position within the CJS & courts – they act as

“gatekeepers,” meaning they have considerable control over the

court’s caseload through their decisions (e.g., charging & plea

bargaining).

▪ Play an active role in all aspects of a criminal matter – from

investigation of crimes, arrest, prosecution, sentencing, and

beyond (e.g., probation & parole).

▪ Operate with nearly limitless discretion & much of their business is

conducted behind closed doors.

Hierarchy of federal prosecutors

▪ The federal court system consists

of three types of prosecutors:

(1) U.S. Attorney General

(2) U.S. Attorneys

(3) Assistant U.S. Attorneys

1 - U.S. Attorney General

▪ At the top of the federal court system hierarchy is the U.S.

Attorney General (“U.S. A.G.”).

▪ Member of the presidential Cabinet, head of the Department of

Justice (DOJ), & chief law enforcement officer of the federal

government.

▪ Nominated by the president & confirmed by the Senate

U.S. Attorney General - Responsibilities

▪ represents the U.S. in legal

matters

▪ top advisor to the president on all

legal matters

▪ sets law enforcement priorities

for the federal government

2 - U.S. Attorneys

▪ In the federal court system, head prosecutors are referred to as

“U.S. Attorneys.”

▪ U.S. attorneys represent the government in prosecutions involving

acts that violate federal statutes.

▪ There are 93 U.S. Attorneys—one per district—across the 94 U.S.

District Court districts

2 - U.S. Attorneys - appointed

▪ For each judicial district, U.S. Attorneys are appointed by the

president, confirmed by the Senate, & serve 4-year terms.

▪ Note: subject to removal by the President

▪ Although U.S. Attorneys oversee their respective offices (including

how their offices are structured), day-to-day operations are mostly

carried out by “assistant U.S. attorneys.

3- Assistant U.S. Attorneys

 Working under U.S. Attorneys, AUSAs conduct day-to-day operations,

including handling:

▪ investigations,

▪ grand jury proceedings,

▪ & managing trials and appeals

▪ AUSAs are appointed by the Attorney General and are subject to removal by the Attorney General.

▪ The exact number of AUSAs assigned per office varies by the size of the

district and caseloads

Eastern District of PA

▪ One of the largest U.S. Attorney Offices in the country.

▪ 140 assistant U.S. attorneys

▪ 105 non-attorney positions

▪ Led by David Metcalf

▪ nominated by DJT (March 2025)

▪ confirmed by Senate (June 2025)

▪ Consists of three separate divisions:

▪ criminal

▪ civil

▪ administration

Hierarchy of state prosecutors

(1) Attorney General

(2) Chief local prosecutors

(3) Assistant prosecuting attorneys/Assistant prosecutors

Attorney Generals

▪ At the top of the hierarchy in each state is the “Attorney General” (“AG”).

▪ State’s chief legal advisor & chief law enforcement officer for the state government.

Attorney Generals - Responsibilities

▪ represent the state in legal disputes

▪ issue legal advice to state agencies & the legislature

▪ set law enforcement priorities for the state

▪ Note: AGs do not directly supervise chief local prosecutors & their offices.

1- Attorney Generals - Selection

▪ In most states (43), including PA, AGs are selected through popular elections.

2 - Chief local prosecutors

▪ Local jurisdictions are led by ”chief local prosecutors” or “District

Attorneys” (”DAs”).

▪ In most states, DAs are elected to office via popular elections & serve

4-year terms

2 - Chief local prosecutors - responsibilities

▪ DAs oversee their respective District Attorney’s Office (DAO) & assistant district attorneys (“ADAs”).

▪ The DA’s role in day-to-day operations largely depends on the size of the jurisdiction

2 Chief local prosecutors - role

▪ In smaller jurisdictions, DAs play a more active role in the criminal process (e.g., sometimes appear in court & represent the government at trial).

▪ In larger jurisdictions, rather than playing an active role in the criminal process, DAs:

▪ delegate this everyday work to ADAs

▪ manage the office’s organization & long-term planning

▪ set policies & priorities (e.g., mandate the prosecution of certain types of crimes & setting rules for plea-bargaining that are followed by ADAs)

Modes of prosecution

(1) horizontal

(2) vertical

(3) mixed/hybrid

 

1 - Horizontal

▪ Prosecutors are assigned to units that handle specific steps or functions in the judicial process (one deals with initial appearances, one with trial, etc.).

▪ Most used by larger offices.

▪ Benefit(s): allows for large amounts of cases to be processed quickly (i.e., increases efficiency)

2 - Vertical

▪ A single prosecutor handles the all phases of a criminal prosecution (initial appearances to final disposition).

▪ Most used by smaller offices.

▪ Benefit(s): important for victims & witnesses (i.e., relationship building) & prosecutors become highly familiarized with cases

3 - Mixed/hybrid

▪Most cases are handled horizontally but the more serious & complex offenses are handled by specialized units (i.e., vertically)

Philadelphia’s DAO

▪ The 3rd largest DAO in the country – consists of about 600 employees, including 300+ ADAs, detectives, & support staff for the 1.5+ million people within city & county limits.

▪ Yearly, the office prosecutes around 40,000 criminal cases

Krasner’s progressive prosecution agenda

▪ End cash/monetary bail (“Philly Bail Reform 1.0 & 2.0”)*

▪ Hold those with power accountable (e.g., police misconduct)

▪ Expand alternatives to formal prosecution

▪ Reform the probation system (by, e.g., reducing jail for violations/“detainers”)*

▪ Reduce incarceration, especially of juveniles*

▪ End overly punitive sentences, especially for low-level offenses

▪ Reduce racial disparities throughout the CJS

▪ Employ criminologists & data scientists*

Philadelphia’s mode of prosecution

▪ structured into divisions & units/sub-divisions

▪ employs a mixed/hybrid model of prosecution

▪ In Philadelphia, most cases are passed on horizontally from one unit to the next as cases make their way through the different stages of the process

Prosecutorial duties

▪ Throughout a criminal prosecution, prosecutors play many different roles & make many important decisions.

▪ Before an arrest, prosecutors:

▪ advise law enforcement during investigations

▪ is there enough evidence to make an arrest?

▪ enough to convict?

▪ help prepare arrest & search warrants & may present to judges

▪ engage with potential witnesses to obtain cooperation

Following arrests, prosecutors

▪ Between 33 & 50% of all arrestees are not formally prosecuted.

▪ impossible to prosecute all arrestees - there are too many & resources are limited

Charging decisions

▪ When making charging decisions, prosecutors have nearly limitless discretion & little oversight.

▪ charging decisions are not reviewable by courts

▪ Typically, prosecutors charge defendants with the most severe offense(s) possible.

▪ Generally, prosecutorial charging decisions are driven by several general factors surrounding cases.

Factors impacting charging decisions - nature of the crime

▪ Seriousness & nature of the offense(s)

▪ the more serious the offense(s), the higher the danger posed by the individual, the more likely a case is prosecuted

▪ if the local community perceives certain crimes to be serious, the more likely they are to be prosecuted

▪ remember, DAs are elected officials

Factors impacting charging decisions - offender

▪ Offender’s culpability

▪ level of intent (danger posed by persons who act intentionally

> negligent)

▪ prior criminal history (repeat offenders?)

▪ Likelihood of conviction at trial

▪ largely based on the amount & quality of the evidence

▪ if the evidence is not available, then obtaining a conviction may

be difficult/possible

Plea bargaining

▪ Many criminal prosecutions are settled via plea bargaining/plea deals.

▪ Typically, prosecutors charge defendants with the most severe offense(s) possible – doing so places the prosecution in an advantageous position to be able to “bargain” with defendants

▪ During plea bargaining, prosecutors offer defendants a “deal”— in exchange for a guilty plea, prosecutors offer, for

example:

▪ a reduction of the types and/or number of charges

▪ more lenient sentence recommendations to the judge

Efficiency & the courtroom workgroup

▪ Primarily due to high caseloads & backlogs, efficiency also matters to other members of the courtroom workgroup, particularly to judges & public defenders.

▪ As a result, it creates a system that incentivizes the use of plea bargaining as a tool to help alleviate the pressures faced by most courtroom workgroups

If cases do go to trial, prosecutorial duties include. . .

▪ representing the government at trial

▪ making sentencing recommendations

▪ representing the government on appeals

▪ handling probation/parole revocation petitions & proceedings