CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Standing Up for You and Your Right
If you or someone you love has been arrested, then please, do not make the mistake of trying to “fight the case” on your own. Criminal cases are full of complex procedures and nuances, and you need someone familiar with all those intricacies fighting for you.
Criminal Proceeding Process:
After one is arrested, the prosecutor is going to make a decision whether or not to file charges based on the information that he has gleaned from this arrest that the police report tells him or her. Then, he or she will make a decision as to whether or not to file charges.
Once charges are filed, the first court date someone is going to have (besides a possible bond hearing) is going to be his or her arraignment date. The arraignment date is the first time a person officially tells the court his or her plea. It will either be a plea of guilty or not guilty. If a person pleads not guilty, then that case is set for (typically it is called in most jurisdictions) a pre-trial conference.
A pre-trial conference is a hearing where the accused and his or her attorney meets with the judge and the prosecuting attorney in a court room. They discuss the facts (to a degree) of the case. If there is any other time that is needed to get some evidence procured, developed or worked on, then that is discussed there. If they resolve the case there at the pre-trial hearing, then that will be the end of it; it will be over.
The judge just kind of wants to keep track of the case and see the direction the case is going to find out how much more time might be needed to get the case resolved.
The final stage, of course, is if the case isn’t resolved at the pre-trial conference or isn’t resolved with a change of plea hearing or anything like that, then the next step would be the trial.
The trial is the last stage, and that is where the prosecutor would put on the evidence that he or she thinks they have to get a person convicted of a crime. And the defense is permitted a right to put on evidence of their own to help defend. Then, whatever the verdict is ends that guess whether it be a verdict of guilty or a verdict of not guilty.”
Trying to resolve your case without a criminal defense attorney is not a good idea. Before entering a plea, at a minimum, you should review all of the police reports and evidence. You should always talk with a seasoned attorney about your case before considering a plea to the charges. If costs you nothing to review and explore your options.
