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How Does the Criminal Justice system work?
After being arrested, you will likely be "booked" (fingerprints and
mug shots) and put into a holding cell or even sent to Jail. Should
you post bail? For serious offenses, if you have the money and do
not want to spend days or even months waiting for a trial, you
should post bail.
A Bail bondsman will post it for you if you give him a
non-refundable 10% of the bail or put your house up for collateral.
If your offense is less serious, such as trespassing or disturbing
the peace, you may want to consider waiting it out for your
arraignment, (usually within 48 hours of arrest) since the Judge may
give you "time served", then drop the case.
The next step is for the Police to finish their report and give it
to the District Attorney or City Attorney. They will assign the case
to a "filing D.A." who will decide if the case should be prosecuted
as a felony, misdemeanor, or otherwise..
After they file the case, you (and your attorney if you have one) go
to court to be arraigned. You normally plead "not guilty" and you
will then have to come back for your trial or any pre-trial motions
that your attorney or you may file.
In felony cases you also have the right to a preliminary hearing
where you or your attorneys get to question the witnesses (which may
include the police) and see if the Court believes there is enough
evidence to "bind you over" for trial. Normally, there is. However,
your attorney can use this hearing to find out just how strong the
case is against you.
95 out of 100 cases that get past the preliminary hearing are
resolved before trial by a "plea bargain" or by an attorney getting
the case dismissed for lack of evidence or violations of the
defendant's rights. A good attorney can usually either win the case
or negotiate a plea bargain, keeping you out of jail unless you have
prior convictions. However, you may be "on probation" for 2-5 years
after the plea bargain.
If you win at trial, you get an "acquittal" and cannot be tried for
that same crime again. (Double Jeopardy rule). If you do lose at
trial, be prepared for the Judge to give you a harsher sentence than
you may have gotten on a plea bargain.
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