If you do not have an attorney for your arraignment, you will still have the chance to hire one to defend you later. However, there are certain advantages to hiring a lawyer for your arraignment and even before. If a judge sets bail during an arraignment hearing, it can be helpful to have an attorney.
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You can retain a private attorney before your arraignment. A benefit of doing so is that you may be able to avoid attending your arraignment (and possibly missing work to do so). The private attorney can appear in court on your behalf. [v] There are exceptions to this rule if your case involves domestic violence, [vi] DUI, [vii] or a felony.
If you were arrested and released from police custody, and you (or an attorney on your behalf) fail to appear at your arraignment, then the Court can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.
However, if you were arrested and taken into custody, then you will be arraigned within 48 hours of your arrest, excluding weekends and holidays. [ii] For example, say you are arrested on Monday and taken into custody.
Defendants who believe the case against them is very weak often ask whether it's possible to negotiate a dismissal before the arraignment. Unfortunately, this possibility generally exists only for defendants who hire private attorneys prior to arraignment.
If the case cannot be resolved through a dismissal or an acceptable plea agreement, then the matter will proceed to trial. At trial, the prosecution must prove to a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you are guilty of the crime that you’ve been accused of committing.
If you were arrested and released from police custody, and you (or an attorney on your behalf) fail to appear at your arraignment, then the Court can issue a bench warrant for your arrest. [ix]
If you are in custody at the time of your arraignment, the Court may release you and allow you to remain out of custody for the duration of your case. [x] This is known as a release on your own recognizance or an “O.R. release.” Whether you will be granted an O.R. release will depend on such factors as the nature of the charges against you, your criminal history, and the likelihood that you’ll appear at all future court hearings. [xi]
You can retain a private attorney before your arraignment. A benefit of doing so is that you may be able to avoid attending your arraignment (and possibly missing work to do so). The private attorney can appear in court on your behalf. [v] There are exceptions to this rule if your case involves domestic violence, [vi] DUI, [vii] or a felony. [viii]
Before arraignment, no one in the prosecutor's office has invested a lot of time or money in the case. With less invested, it's easier to let a weak case go.
Redd's attorney may be able to contact the arraignment prosecutor to seek a mutually agreeable outcome. Redd's attorney can point out information that the intake prosecutor may not have been aware of—Redd didn't own the gun; he had borrowed it for protection, and inadvertently had it in his backpack.
Especially in urban areas, courtroom dockets (schedules) are crowded. By quickly disposing of weak cases , prosecutors can devote the little time they have to more serious cases. And disposing of iffy cases early on spares the courtroom prosecutor of the embarrassment of showing up in court with weak cases.
First, in most parts of the country, intake prosecutors (not the police) are supposed to anal yze cases to make sure that there is evidence of guilt and that prosecution is in the interests of justice. Frequently, however, the caseload is so heavy that reviews are cursory, and weak cases sometimes slip into the pipeline. If an attorney who is well known to the courtroom prosecutor can convince that prosecutor of the weaknesses in the case, the case may get dismissed.
Frequently, however, the caseload is so heavy that reviews are cursory, and weak cases sometimes slip into the pipeline. If an attorney who is well known to the courtroom prosecutor can convince that prosecutor of the weaknesses in the case, the case may get dismissed.
Defendants who are represented by court-appointed counsel ( sometimes referred to as public defenders) often don't even have counsel appointed until the time of arraignment. And a self-represented defendant should not risk additional legal difficulties by discussing the case with a prosecutor before the arraignment (assuming that a prosecutor would agree to meet with the defendant in the first place).