Explore Case Proceeding and Penalty Objects

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Describe the purpose of the objects related to case proceedings.
  
• Explain how to process requests for case proceedings and capture information from proceedings.
  
• Summarize the relationships between case proceeding objects and other data model objects.
  

Investigative Case Proceedings

So far, you've explored how the data model helps track and manage the twists and turns of an investigation. But investigations often lead to court events, tribunals, internal hearings, or other proceedings where a whole new set of events and processes come into play.

Think reviews, mediations, arraignments, pretrial hearings, trials–the whole world of legal actions. It takes a village of judges, juries, lawyers, ombudsmen, and others to navigate these complex proceedings. And that's where the next piece of our data model puzzle comes in: managing all those court-related events.

In this unit, you discover how the data model supports case managers like Carmen as they keep everything on track. From scheduling hearings to tracking outcomes, several Public Sector Solutions objects make it all possible.

In Cosville, Carmen processes requests for case proceedings, coordinates with the stakeholders, and schedules meetings, hearings, and court dates. She also tracks the outcomes of each event and records follow-up actions. Delays are common, so case managers like Carmen must adapt quickly to changes in schedules, requests for deferments, and other postponements.

Case Proceeding Objects

Investigative Case Management contains a set of objects to help you efficiently manage all aspects of court cases.

The case proceeding object tracks all the details of an individual proceeding in a criminal or civil case. In this object, you can set the type, such as court action, mediation, or tribunal. You can also use case proceedings to track jury selection, hearings, and similar legal events. On the case proceeding record, use a quick action to include each case proceeding participant and set the address where the proceeding will take place.

Document the case filing date, track the status of the proceeding, and connect related proceedings to each other for a comprehensive record of events. You can also connect a complaint to a corresponding case proceeding using the case proceeding complaint object.

Often, attorneys on either side of the case initiate requests for case proceedings or file motions for continuance to delay a proceeding. With Investigative Case Management, you can expedite the intake of these requests with a guided flow.

In the example scenario, Carmen receives a case proceeding request from the prosecutor regarding Leonard’s case.

Using the Investigative Case Management tools and features, she handles this request by:

• Creating a series of case proceedings, such as the upcoming first hearing, to track each of Leonard’s court appearances and related processes.
  
• Including Leonard, his attorney, the opposing counsel, the judge, witnesses, and others as participants in each case proceeding record.
  
• Setting the address of the Cosville County Courthouse.
  
• Connecting the case-related evidence to the proceedings with the custody item relation object you learned about earlier.
  
• Coordinating with all the involved parties to set additional proceeding dates as the case progresses.
  

Carmen keeps track of all the proceedings right from the Casework Overview tab.

This diagram shows the placement of the case proceeding objects you just learned about.

This table describes the objects highlighted in the previous image. It also shows the related objects and presents some example scenarios.

Leonard’s case proceeding is off to a rough start. As the day of his first court appearance arrives, he’s nowhere to be seen. His failure to appear violates a court order by the judge, who's clearly irritated. Carmen quickly updates the case proceeding schedule to account for this delay.

When a person involved with a case proceeding commits a violation of laws or court orders as Leonard has, you can record each violation in a case proceeding infraction object. Infractions might include contempt of court, perjury, or failure to disclose evidence.

At any point in a case, if the court finds that a subject has committed one or more regulatory code violations, each violation results in an associated violation enforcement action. These actions represent penalties to the violator, such as a citation, fine, court sanctions, imprisonment, or license revocation. Certain enforcement actions also carry with them a regulatory transaction fee, which the violator pays to the agency to process the fine or penalty.

In this case, the judge finds Leonard in contempt of court and orders him to pay a hefty fine. Carmen creates the case proceeding infraction to record the violation and associates the infraction with a regulatory code violation.

After Carmen creates the infraction, she then records the fine as a violation enforcement action.

Eventually, Leonard shows up in court and the proceedings get underway. Over the next few weeks, the prosecution and defense present witness testimonies and argue their sides of the case before the judge and jury. The whistleblower appears on the stand and recounts an incident where he overheard Leonard offering bribes to a potential client. The prosecutors present backing evidence, such as the falsified documents and incriminating emails they discovered during the visit to the Stealthy Financial Services office. The defense attorney denies the accusations and maintains Leonard’s innocence.

You can track the decision or ruling from a case proceeding with the case proceeding result object. Then, use a case episode to record each action that results from the case. These episodes include enforcement actions, care plans, and other actions the court assigns.

At the end of the proceedings, both sides rest their case, and the jury deliberates. After a few hours, the verdict is in: guilty on all counts of bribery and fraud! Leonard appears in court one last time for sentencing. The judge sentences him to 2 months in prison with parole and ongoing community service. Stealthy Financial Services also pays a price: The court suspends the company’s business license until they pay a fee and undergo a full regulatory audit to confirm compliance with the law. Carmen records all of the violation enforcement actions that the court assigns to Leonard and Stealthy Financial Services in case episodes.

Here’s the complete Investigative Case Management data model diagram with all the justice-focused objects you learned about in this module.

This table shows the remaining case proceeding objects, relationships, and examples.

Not all investigations or case proceedings end with penalties. In some cases, authorities can prescribe a care plan with a set of goals, tasks, and benefits to resolve the situation.

To learn more about care plans, see the Social Program Management Data Model in Public Sector Solutions module.

As you’ve discovered in this module, the Investigative Case Management objects entrust your agency to track and manage every stage of a criminal or civil case, no matter its complexity.

Back in Cosville, Carmen and her team are thrilled by their newfound ability to efficiently manage and monitor investigative cases. They were able to respond quickly to the whistleblower’s complaint, conduct the investigation, collect evidence, schedule court hearings, and record infractions and results without the routine administrative roadblocks. That’s swift justice!

In this module, you’ve learned how Investigative Case Management simplifies judicial processes with a specially designed data model. The next step is to dive into the links in the Resources section to learn how to set up and use Investigative Case Management features in your agency org. With these objects and features, your agency will streamline and simplify investigative cases and resolve issues in the community—almost as fast as they do on TV.

Resources

• Salesforce Help: Investigative Case Management in Public Sector Solutions
• Salesforce Help: Capture and Fulfill a Service Request for a Case Proceeding
• Salesforce Help: Create a Case Proceeding
• Salesforce Help: Create a Case Proceeding Result