Prosecutor: Difference between revisions

In the early history of England, the victim of a crime and his family had the right to hire a private attorney to prosecute criminal charges against the person alleged to have injured the victim.<ref name=Nichols>{{citation|volume=13|publisher=Cap. Def. J.|issue=279|date=2000-2001|title=No One Can Serve Two Masters: Arguments against Private Prosecutors|author=Nichols, Matthew S.|url=http://heinonlinebackup.com/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/hjlpp9&section=38}}</ref> In the 18th century, prosecution of almost all criminal offenses in England was private, usually by the victim.<ref>{{citation|volume=2|publisher=U. Chi. L. Sch. Roundtable|pages=475|date=1995|title=Making Sense of English Law Enforcement in the Eighteenth Century|author=Friedman, David D.|url=http://heinonlinebackup.com/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/ucroun2&section=23}}</ref> The use of a private prosecutor was incorporated into the [[common law]] of [[Virginia]] and is still permitted there.<ref name=Nichols/> [[Private prosecutor]]s were also used in [[North Carolina]] as late as 1975.<ref>{{citation|volume=25|publisher=Am. U. L. Rev.|pages=754|date=1975-1976|title=Outmoded Concept of Private Prosecution, The|author=Sidman, Andrew}}</ref>