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Trials and Verdicts

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Assignment 2: Trials and Verdicts
Robert Cochran
CRJ 100 – Intro to Criminal Justice
Professor Karina Arzumanova
Strayer University
June 1, 2014

Discuss one real-life criminal case, taken from current events, and identify the court that took jurisdiction. Explain why the court that took the case was the appropriate one for the particular circumstances. One of the most fundamental questions of law is whether a given court has jurisdiction to preside over a given case. A jurisdictional question may be broken down into three components: whether there is jurisdiction over the person, whether there is jurisdiction over the subject matter, and whether there is jurisdiction to render the particular judgment sought. Also there are different courts that have jurisdiction depending on the case. State courts have general jurisdiction, meaning that they can hear any controversy except those prohibited by their specific state laws. Federal courts have limited jurisdiction in that they can only hear cases that fall both within the scope defined by the United States Constitution. The criminal case I choose for this is the Boston Marathon bombing case against which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev killed three people and injured more than 260 during the Boston marathon on April 15, 2013 when he detonated a bomb close to the finish line (Valencia, 2014). In regards to jurisdiction and due to the seriousness and nature of the crimes, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged in the federal court system rather than in the Massachusetts state courts. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged with 30 counts including charges of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and maliciously damaging and destroying property with an explosive device. The federal government is allowed to prosecute any case that falls within the federal jurisdiction. U.S. Attorneys may choose to prosecute their cases

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