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Criminal Justice Process — From Crime Scene to Verdict

Run the Criminal Justice Process MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

A criminal case travels through eleven stages, from the moment a crime occurs to a final verdict and sentencing. Forensic evidence does not appear only at trial — it enters and matters at many points along the way, and constitutional rules govern what investigators may collect and what prosecutors must disclose.

This MicroSim lays out the whole process as a clickable flowchart. Click any stage to read its forensic role and any constitutional protection that applies. Stages are color-coded by type, and a § badge marks the stages with a constitutional or gatekeeping rule.

How to Use It

  1. Click any of the 11 numbered stages to open its detail panel on the right.
  2. Watch for the § badge — hover it (or read the panel) to see which amendment or rule applies.
  3. Turn on Highlight Forensic Entry Points to see, at a glance, the stages where forensic evidence is most pivotal.
  4. Click the same stage again to close it, or click another stage to compare.

What You Can Learn

  • Explain the ordered sequence of the U.S. criminal justice process.
  • Identify where forensic evidence enters and why timing matters.
  • Connect specific stages to constitutional protections (Fourth and Fifth Amendments, Brady disclosure, and the Daubert/Frye gatekeeping role).

You can embed this MicroSim on your own web page with this iframe:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/forensic-science/sims/criminal-justice-process-flow/main.html"
        width="100%" height="612" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Audience: High-school forensic science (grades 9–12) Time: 20 minutes Bloom level: Understand (L2) — explain a sequence and locate roles within it.

Build the map. Students click through all 11 stages in order and summarize each in one sentence. This produces a personal "case roadmap" they can reuse.

Locate the forensics. Turn on Highlight Forensic Entry Points and ask:

  • At which stage is evidence first collected? (Stage 2, Crime Scene Investigation.)
  • At which stage is it analyzed? (Stage 3, Laboratory Analysis.)
  • At which stage can a judge exclude it? (Stage 8, Admissibility Hearing.)

Connect the Constitution. Using the § badges, students match each tagged stage to its rule: Fourth Amendment (search & seizure), Fifth Amendment (Miranda), Brady v. Maryland (disclosure), and the Daubert/Frye gatekeeping role.

Exit ticket. "Name one stage where evidence could be lost or thrown out, and explain why." Strong answers cite degradation (Stage 1), illegal search (Stage 2), or failed admissibility (Stage 8).

References

Specification

This MicroSim was generated from a specification in Chapter 1: Foundations of Forensic Science and Legal Principles.