This engaging and accessible book focuses on high-profile criminal trials and examines the strategy of the lawyers, the reasons for conviction or acquittal, as well as the social importance of these famous cases.

The fifth edition of Understanding Criminal Procedure is new in many respects. Most significantly, it has been enlarged to two volumes. The first volume is intended for use in criminal procedure courses focusing primarily or exclusively on police investigatory process. Such courses are variously titled: Criminal Procedure I; Criminal Procedure: Investigation; Criminal Procedure: Police Practices; Constitutional Criminal Procedure; etc. Because some such courses also cover the defendant's right to counsel at trial and appeal, the first volume includes a chapter on this non-police-practice issue. (The latter chapter is also included in Volume Two.) The second volume of Understanding Criminal Procedure covers the criminal process after the police investigation ends, and the adjudicative process commences. This book is useful in criminal procedure courses (variously entitled Criminal Procedure II; Criminal Procedure: Adjudication; etc.) that follow the criminal process through the various stages of adjudication, commencing with pretrial issues — such as charging, pretrial release and discovery — and continuing with the trial itself and then post-conviction proceedings: sentencing and appeals. Understanding Criminal Procedure is primarily designed for law students. The authors have written the Text so that students can use it with confidence that it will assist them in course preparation, and professors can recommend or assign the volumes to students with confidence that they will improve classroom dialogue. Based on comments that the authors received in the past from students and professors alike, they predict that this new, expanded edition of Understanding Criminal Procedure will serve the needs of students and professors even better. Also, based on the experience of prior editions, including citations to this Text in scholarly literature and judicial opinions, we are confident that the two volumes will prove useful to scholars, practicing lawyers, and courts. Understanding Criminal Procedure covers the most important United States Supreme Court cases in the field. Where pertinent, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, federal statutes, and lower federal and state court cases are considered. The broad overarching policy issues of criminal procedure are laid out; and some of the hottest debates in the field are considered in depth and, we think, objectively. Readers should find the Text user-friendly. Students who want a thorough grasp of a topic can and should read the relevant chapter in its entirety. However, each chapter is divided into subsections, so that readers with more refined research needs can find answers to their questions efficiently. The authors also include citations to important scholarship, both classic and recent, into which readers may delve more deeply regarding specific topics. And, because so many of the topics interrelate, cross-referencing footnotes are included, so that readers can easily move from one part of the Text to another, if necessary.

In this Advanced Introduction, Christopher Slobogin covers every significant aspect of U.S. criminal procedure. Focusing on Supreme Court cases and the most important statutory rules that provide the framework for the criminal justice system, he illuminates the nuances of American criminal procedure doctrine and offers factual examples of how it is applied. Chapters cover police practices such as search and seizure, interrogation, and identification procedures, as well as the pretrial, trial and post-conviction process.

"Criminal Law for the Criminal Justice Professional, fifth edition, presents a complete basic introduction to the substance of those rules and laws that comprise the fabric of he criminal justice system in the United States. This book, like the fourth edition, describes the structure of the system, the theories underlying criminal responsibility, and the lements of specific crimes. The general principles that motivate the lawmakers have not changed since the development of Anglo-American criminal law, although legislative etail and focus have varied"--

Designed for use as supplemental reading in an advanced criminal procedure course on the post-investigation processing of a criminal case. Includes a clear, concise, and thorough narrative explanation of the issues involved in the prosecution and adjudication of a criminal case, from the decision to prosecute and pre-trial release through to sentencing, appeal and collateral attack. Ideal reference for students and practitioners.