Lawyer David Serna Tackles Criminal Law’s Five Objectives


Many people may be wondering why people commit crimes despite knowing that there are existing criminal laws that can provide punishment. Some people may even wonder what criminal law’s objective is if there is always someone violating others’ rights. Essentially, there are five criminal law objectives, and lawyer David Serna shares an overview of all of them in this post. He believes that understanding these things well helps develop better defense lawyers like him.

 

One of the most popular purposes of criminal law is retribution. It refers to the judgment of sentencing of the court, delivering punishment for an offense. A trial determines the penalty, which usually takes away certain liberties and rights of the offender. Lawyer David Serna believes that it is the most widely seen goal of criminal law. Criminals inflicted harm upon others, and consequently, the law will punish them and balance the scales once again.

 

Deterrence is another primary objective of criminal law. Lawyer David Serna believes that the goal is to impose sufficient penalties to discourage offenders from criminal behavior and other society members from committing crimes. Serna trusts the authorities can only achieve deterrence when offenders have the chance to reflect on their actions’ consequences.

 

Another vital objective of criminal law is incapacitation or incarceration restricts an offender’s freedoms and rights as punishment for their crimes. It removes them from society and restrains them in a separate facility. Lawyer David Serna believes that this objective helps prevent criminals from committing any further crimes and protect the general public from them.

 

Lawyer David Serna believes that criminal law is about punishing offenders and transforming them into valuable society members, which is the goal of rehabilitation. It prevents further offense by identifying and addressing issues of the offender and redirect them for a positive outcome. Lastly, lawyer David Serna also believes that in some crimes, restoration is vital. It aims for the offender to repair any damages inflicted on the victim. Lawyer David Serna believes it is a victim-based punishment that seeks criminals to accept accountability for their actions. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Impeaching a Witness Based on Inconsistencies

One way to undermine the evidence of an opponent is to impeach his or her witnesses based on inconsistencies in his or her testimony. Lawyers are always advised to listen during the direct and cross-examination because this is the perfect time to observe the testimony and behavior of the witnesses of their opponent. David Serna, a lawyer of over 40 years, offers helpful tips to both new and experienced lawyers. Today, he discusses prior statements of witnesses governed by the Federal Rules on Evidence 613. Discrepancies in testimonies are expected when several witnesses are testifying to the same incident. It is but natural that these individuals remember the details of the incident differently.   However, lawyers should consider only those errors and testimonial inconsistencies that are significant and deserving of the jury’s attention. Persistently bringing up minor inconsistencies will only waste the time of the court and will most likely annoy the jury. FRE 613 prov...
Read more

Cross-Examination of a Crash Reconstructionist

Crash reconstruction is a science that involves mathematics and physics to determine what happened before, during, and after a collision. Reconstruction witnesses testify about the details of a collision, such as the speed of a vehicle, the cause of a collision, and the motion of the vehicle before and after an impact. David Serna, a lawyer of over 40 years, advises young prosecutors in preparing for the cross-examination of defense reconstruction witnesses. The prosecutor must know whether the evidence or data gathered and used by the witness supports a reliable conclusion. Here are three things to remember before conducting a cross-examination of reconstruction witnesses. 1.        Review the crash report It is important to read the crash report of the opponent’s expert crash reconstructionist. The prosecutor’s crash reconstructionist can help him understand the factors considered by the opponent’s reconstruction witness and determine the shor...
Read more

The Rules on Preliminary Hearing and Trial

Preliminary Hearings take place before a judge and only after the prosecutor has filed charges against a person. These hearings are not trials, which may be conducted before a group of individuals, called a grand jury. There are, however, procedural rules on trial that similarly apply to preliminary hearings. In this brief article, David Serna, a lawyer and educator for many years, discusses some of the rules that apply to preliminary hearings and trials. Like a trial, an ordinary witness can testify during a preliminary hearing. Generally, the testimony must be based on what they perceive and not on opinion. However, during a preliminary hearing, unlike a trial, hearsay evidence is allowed and admissible. Three things can happen after a preliminary hearing. If the charges are weak and unfounded, the judge would most likely dismiss the case outright. If there is, however, a finding of probable cause, the judge may either reduce or retain the charges made by the prosecutor...
Read more