You may be wondering what the process is in a criminal case. Here is a breakdown from beginning to end.

Arrest: A police officer will make an arrest based on a report from someone- either by a call or person visit to the station. This includes the gathering of evidence such as statements, pictures, diagrams, documents and any other physical evidence such as hair, blood, DNA or other items.

Charging: The police will then submit his/her case to the District Attorney (“DA” the lawyer who works for the city). The DA will take all of the information presented by the police (and perhaps do further investigation themselves) and then determine what, if any, charges should be filed against you.

Arraignment: You will either get a notice to appear in the mail, will have already received a citation from the police with a court date, or the you will still be in custody and taken to your arraignment. At the arraignment, the judge will read the charges to tell you what you are being accused of. You can either claim to be guilty or not guilty. Often, a judge and/or DA will make a plea offer to see if you want to resolve the case quickly. We believe its not a good idea to accept this- you have no idea what kind of case the DA has against you!

Pretrial Hearing: This hearing happens about one month after your arraignment. It gives you time to find an attorney to review your case. Your attorney will advise you of your options and what will likely happen in each scenario. This is where you can negotiate. At the Pretrial hearing your attorney will discuss your case with the judge and the DA and see if there is any resolution. You are not required to plead guilty at this stage.

Preliminary Hearing: These only happen in felonies. At this time, the DA is required to put on a "bare bones" case in order to justify to a judge that your case can go to trial. If the DA fails to put on enough evidence to demonstrate that 1) a crime was committed; and 2) you are the person who committed the crime- then the judge will dismiss your case and you walk out of court free. Keep in mind that the DA is allowed to re-file your case one time if he feels that he can present more information to justify the charges.