Criminal Jusitice. The Criminal Justice System Process Research Paper

Criminal Jusitice. The Criminal Justice System Process - Research Paper Example Authorities mentioned that Phelps Collins got inside through some help from one of his friends and a brother to the owner of the townhouse. However, detectives did not expressly draw a clear connection between the staged break-in and the previous stabbing of Robert Wone. However, homicide detectives were looking into the burglary with the zeal of uncovering various potential leads. Wone was stabbed at the chest as he was visiting friends at the same home on the edge of Dupont Circle along the 1500 block of Swann Street NW. New details relating to the burglary later emerged through a number of interviews conducted much later (Klein &Schwartzman, 2006). Testimonies and court papers from a hearing for Collins the following week at D.C. Superior Court were also sources of information. Collins was later arrested on a burglary charge. Police maintained that Collins confessed to them that that Michael Price, the friend, had provided him with a key to the contended house as it belonged to Jo e Price, his brother. Police also added that Collins said that Michael Price was responsible for turning off the alarm immediately the two men broke into the house where electronics worth $7,700 were stolen. Case presented At the time, Michael Price was not yet charged in the burglary and he was not located to provide any comments. After the staged break-in, the detectives proceeded to the nearby pawnshops where they found two DVD players, an audio system among other stolen goods which led them all the way to Collins. In Calvert Street NW, the police found one of the CD changers as they searched the Collins's home. Collins had sold most of the other stolen items along the street for drugs or money, as the authorities speculated. A lawyer at one of the Washington firms, Joe Price, told police that he was not aware that Collins had done it even though he had heard the same through his brother (Klein &Schwartzman, 2006). This is according to information that was sourced from an affidavit the police filed after getting the search warrant for the residence of Collins. Joe Price also mentioned to the police that the brother was known to engage in drug abuse as well as hanging out with diverse subjects who we re adversely mentioned in drug usage on a frequent basis. Price directed the police to the fact that he did not avail permission to neither his brother nor Collins of entering his house and removing and later selling his property as stated in the affidavit. His public defender did not comment. Up to the point of the break-in, police expressed considerable doubt on the intruder theory. This is because there lacked an express sign of forced entry as the killer used a kitchen knife. Further, the crime scene seemed to be cleaned prior to the arrival of the officers as recounted by the police. Investigators convened a grand jury as well as enlisting the integral help of the respective departments of the FBI within the homicide. They also sought to keep high levels of control for the $1.2 million houses across several weeks after the killing while removing flooring, a chunk of the staircase, pieces of walls, sink traps and the washing machine searching for blood as well as any other evide nce (Klein &Schwartzman, 2006). Collins, who was at the time unemployed, had a criminal history which included four drug convictions between the years of 1998 and 2004 in the Montgomery and District as shown by the records. Authorities mentioned that most of the items taken from the burglary turned up at Pawnbrokers on 14th Street NW at Sam's residence which was only a few blocks away. The manager at the store, Sam Levy, said that Collins had previously pawned