Suspect
A suspect is a person believed to have done something wrong, committed a crime or caused something bad to happen.[1] In criminal law a person who is under suspicion or under investigation by law enforcement is considered a suspect.[2] A prime suspect is believed by police to be the suspect who most probably committed a crime.[3] A formal suspect may be arrested when the facts and circumstances would lead a reasonable person to believe a suspect may have committed a crime or is about to.[2] In common law countries a suspect may have a defense attorney present while being questioned.[4] The attorney may advise his or her client (the suspect) how to answer questions.[4] Once a suspect is charged with a crime he or she becomes a defendant.[5]
Questioning a suspect
[change | change source]Common law countries
[change | change source]In the past in common law countries, a suspect could not be questioned against their will. In the United Kingdom, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, police can require suspects to be questioned.[6] Suspects are now required to listen to all questions, but may legally refuse to answer a question.[6] In the UK once a suspect has been formally charged, no questions may be asked. In France, however, a suspect may still be questioned after being charged. The suspect may still legally refuse to answer any question.[6] In the United States, once a suspect becomes the prime suspect, they must be advised of their Miranda rights before they can be questioned.[3] Then they may be formally questioned, with a defence attorney present if the suspect requests one.[3]
Civil law countries
[change | change source]In civil law countries a suspect may be questioned by police and the judiciary. This is to decide if there is enough evidence against a subject to bring the suspect to trial.[7] There are three phases to the investigation. The first phase is a suspect is questioned by police. In the second phase the suspect is questioned by a magistrate (called a juge d'instruction in France).[7] The third phase is the trial conducted by a state prosecutor in front of a panel of judges or magistrates.[7] Then, if the investigation trial shows a case is strong enough, it is brought before a tribunal for trial.[7]
Terms confused with suspect
[change | change source]Person of interest
[change | change source]A person of interest is a non-legal term for someone police may be interested in. In some cases a person of interest may simply be someone who has information related to an investigation or could be a witness.[8] Police may be suspicious of someone, but do not have enough evidence to justify calling them a suspect.[8] Sometimes police also misuse the term 'person of interest' to mean the suspect.[9] Another use of the term is by writers meaning simply an interesting person.
Perpetrator
[change | change source]Police and reporters sometimes misuse the term suspect to mean the perpetrator. A suspect is someone suspected of committing a crime. A perpetrator (slang perp) is a person who actually committed a crime.[9] Good police work will eliminate suspects until they find the perpetrator (also called a culprit).[10]
In the US and England, police have broad powers to arrest and detain suspects. In Canada police supposedly do not have that power.[10] In a crime that gets a lot of publicity, police will sometimes detain a suspect for a period of time, then release them with no charges filed.[10] Somehow the news media is informed of the release and a swarm of reporters and paparazzi are there to take pictures for next day's tabloids.[10] Generally this is for a day or two in England.[10] In the US it can be up to 72 hours.[11] This process encourages the public to think of suspects as guilty, trusting the police would not arrest innocent people.[12] This is sometimes called "rounding up the usual suspects".[12] Sometimes police will call a suspect a perpetrator or person of interest and question them without giving a Miranda warning.[13] This is a technicality since in the US police are required to give a Miranda warning if arresting a suspect. If after arresting and then questioning a suspect, police may decide they have the perpetrator. Then they will hand the case over to the district attorney.[13]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "suspect, noun [C]". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Suspect Law & Legal Definition". USLegal.com. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Prime Suspect Law & Legal Definition". USLegal.com. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Vivienne O’Connor, 'Common Law and Civil Law Traditions', INPROL (March, 2012), p. 24
- ↑ "Court Terminology". Office of the District Attorney. Davidson & Davie Counties. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 John Bell, Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, Vol 6, 2003-2004 (Oxford: Hart Publishing Ltd, 2005), p. 211
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Charles Maechling, Jr., 'Borrowing from Europe's Civil Law Tradition', ABA Journal, Vol 77 (January 1991), p. 61
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chen, Stephanie (17 September 2009). "What does 'person of interest' mean? Nothing". CNN. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Shaw, Donna (February 2006). "Dilemma of Interest". AJR. Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Clay Powell (17 May 2011). "The difference between a suspect and culprit". The Londoner. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ↑ "How Long May Police Hold Suspects Before Charges Must be Filed?". FindLaw/Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Roger J. R. Levesque, The Psychology and Law of Criminal Justice Processes (New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2005), pp. 3–4
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Role of the Police". American Justice Center. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.