I'm interested to see how long from being arrested and tried would it be until the sentence was carried out, and would my family have been released my body when it was all over?
I can't answer this and hopefully someone can, but here are some previous questions which dealt, partially, with your topic. It'll give you something to read until a professional comes along and you'll be able to ask better follow-up questions!
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/233w6h/how_prevalent_were_execution_by_crucifixions/
I don't have a copy on hand, but the major scholarly text on the subject is Martin Hengel's Crucifixion. It's a short book (less than 100 pages), but it's definitive in the field. If you have access to a library this is the first book to read on the topic.