Arraignment is the first court appearance you make after your arrest. During the hearing, the court informs you of the criminal charges you are facing, advises you of your constitutional rights, and asks you to take a plea, which can be either no contest, not guilty, or guilty. The process can be overwhelming and confusing. This article discusses what to expect at this court hearing. The rationale is to reduce the stress of facing legal trouble.

A Brief Overview of Arraignment

Arraignment is the initial court appearance after your arrest.

During the arraignment, the following happens:

  • The court charges with a crime
  • The court advises you of your legal rights
  • The lawyer argues against existing orders that might apply to your criminal case, including protective orders.
  • Your attorney may request a reduction in bail or release on your own recognizance
  • You enter a plea

When attending the arraignment hearing, you should carry the relevant paperwork that your bail bondsman, police, or the jail gave you. You are also likely to leave the hearing with the following:

  • A copy of the complaint that the prosecution brought against you
  • A copy of the police report related to your criminal case
  • An offer to resolve your criminal case

Sometimes, the prosecutor at arraignment can announce that they do not have sufficient evidence to charge the defendant and will dismiss the criminal case. You can still be charged if the prosecution later acquires adequate evidence within the statute of limitations.

Felony Arraignment Hearing Procedures and Rules

Under PC 825, you should be arraigned within forty-eight hours of your arrest if law enforcement officers detained you in police custody after the arrest. Holidays and weekends are excluded when determining the timeframe.

If the police release you from their custody after a California felony arrest, the law requires that you be arraigned without unnecessary delay, depending on court scheduling and prosecutorial review. However, if you are not in police custody, it can take weeks or months before your arraignment.

Misdemeanor Arraignment Hearing Procedures and Rules

Per PC 825, if you commit a misdemeanor that requires you to be detained in county jail, you should be arraigned within 48 hours of your arrest, including holidays and weekends.

Many defendants are released from police custody after a misdemeanor arrest. In this case, you do not have to be arraigned for more than ten days after your arrest.

Your Constitutional Rights

You have many legal rights, including the following:

You are Entitled to Remain Silent

The 5th Amendment to the Constitution offers that you cannot be forced in a case to testify against yourself. In other words, you cannot be a witness against yourself.

The police should read you Miranda warnings whenever they interrogate a person in custody. Interrogation includes express questioning and actions or words that law enforcement officers should know can elicit incriminating responses.

The law indicates that you should affirmatively invoke your right against self-incrimination. Keeping quiet is not enough. After invoking your rights, the police should stop questioning. If the police continue questioning you, any subsequent statements you make should be inadmissible in court.

Right to Legal Representation

According to the 6th Amendment, you are entitled to help from a criminal defense lawyer. If you cannot afford a lawyer, the judge should appoint a public defender to represent you at no cost.

The law also requires that defendants have rights to adequate representation during a plea bargain and at trial. Nonetheless, adequate representation is different from perfect representation.

Right Not to be Placed in Double Jeopardy

The Fifth Amendment protects you from facing trial more than once for the same crime.

However, it is an exception that you can legally be prosecuted for the same criminal conduct by different jurisdictions. For instance, you can face criminal charges in state and federal court for the same crime if some facets of the crime broke state laws, whereas other facts violated federal laws.

Right to a Jury Trial

According to the 6th Amendment, you have the right to a jury trial, except when facing petty crimes punishable by six months in county jail. It is a misconception that the jury should consist of 12 members. Nonetheless, the jury can legally comprise six individuals.

The jury requires a unanimous ruling to find you guilty. The failure to reach a unanimous agreement is known as a hung jury or a mistrial. The court should set you free unless the prosecution chooses to retry your criminal case.

The Right to Speedy Trial

The 6th Amendment provides you with the Right to a speedy trial.

Nevertheless, there is no specified time limit. Judges determine on a case-by-case basis whether the court has delayed your trial to the point that your case is dismissed. The judge considers factors like the rationale for this delay, whether the delay has affected you, and the length of the delay.

You can waive your right to a speedy trial by agreeing to permit the criminal hearings against you to move more slowly than the law dictates. In California, a person who waives time cannot hold the prosecution to the sixty-day calculation for beginning trial.

Taking Plea Bargain

During your arraignment, you have a chance to enter a plea in your criminal case. A plea bargain is an agreement between the prosecutor and the defendant in which the accused enters a particular plea in return for a lighter sentence or less severe criminal charges. Here are the pleading options:

  • Guilty— It allows you to avoid a jury trial and proceed to your sentencing hearing.
  • Not guilty—It happens when your case proceeds to the pretrial phase of the California criminal judicial system.
  • No contest—When you enter a nolo contendere plea, you do not contest the charges and accept a conviction without admitting guilt for the offense. Nolo contendere is a Latin phrase meaning "I do not wish to contest. When you enter a no-contest plea, you are not technically entering an admission of guilt, but you allow the court to decide your penalties. You also waive your rights to a jury trial, to avoid self-incrimination, to cross-examine your accuser.

PC 1018 allows you to withdraw your no-contest or guilty plea after proving good cause. You can do it by bringing a motion to withdraw a plea either within six (6) months of your probationary sentence or before your sentencing.

Some of the ways you can show good cause are as follows:

  • You did not have legal representation when you took the plea
  • You did not know the consequences of taking a plea
  • The prosecutor coerced you into the plea
  • An incompetent attorney represented you
  • Language barrier prejudiced you

If the court grants your motion, your criminal case will start at your arraignment. However, if the court denies the motion, you should comply with the conditions of your judgment.

Why You Should Take a Plea Bargain in Your Criminal Case

Even if you did not commit the alleged crime, you might want to consider the prosecutor's plea bargain offer. The extended delays in the California judicial system can drag out your criminal case for a long time, derailing your life and causing more stress and expenses.

Taking a plea removes the uncertainty of a trial. Typically, a plea bargain involves having a less severe criminal charge on your criminal record and receiving lenient penalties. It can be more favorable if your original charges attract considerable fines and incarceration.

If you have a prior conviction, the judge and the prosecution will review your criminal record. Having a no-contest or guilty plea is a better case outcome than being convicted at trial. It is because you are likely to plead no contest or guilty to a less severe crime or to fewer crimes. Your criminal record could be an aggravating factor in sentencing for later crimes. Therefore, reducing the severity or number of your previous crimes can help you shorten or avoid your incarceration.

Offenses like domestic violence or sex crime carry social stigma. Reducing the severity of your charges can help you preserve your relationship with the community and your loved ones.

Please note that you should consult your lawyer before taking any plea. Your lawyer can help you understand the pros and cons of each plea option and help you make a decision that will not adversely affect different aspects of your life, including your professional life.

Lowering or Eliminating Your Bail Amount

During the arraignment, you can request the court to release on your own recognizance or reduce your bail amount.

Bail is the money you post with the court to guarantee your appearance in court when required. Typically, judges set bail amounts based on various factors, including whether you are a flight risk, whether you pose a threat to the community or the alleged victim, your community ties, your criminal history, and the severity of the alleged crime.

An own recognizance release means the judge will release you from detention without requiring you to pay any money. You just promise to show up in court whenever required.

You can qualify for the O.R. release if:

  • You are not charged with a crime punishable by death
  • Your release will not compromise public safety
  • Your release will reasonably ensure that you will show up in court

Some crimes require a formal adversarial hearing before the court can release the accused on their O.R. release.

Otherwise, during your arraignment hearing, your lawyer should argue why the judge should grant the O.R. release. Then the judge might ask the prosecutor about whether they have details that could assist the judge in determining whether to grant the release or their perspective on the O.R. release.

If you cannot afford to post bail or acquire the O.R. release, the law requires that you be released unless there exists persuasive and clear proof that releasing you would jeopardize public safety. In L.A, many suspects are released on their own recognizance except in violent or serious felony cases.

Will Your Criminal Defense Attorney Show Up in Court on Your Behalf?

If you are charged with a California felony, you should attend your court proceedings, including the arraignment, in person. Nevertheless, there are exemptions that either:

  • Excuse your presence if you write a waiver, and the court accepts the waiver
  • Permit you to attend through a two-way video/audio conference (video court)

If you are charged with a misdemeanor, the law permits you to have your defense lawyer show up on your behalf unless you are facing:

  • Protective order violation allegations
  • Domestic violence charges
  • Specific aggravated crimes related to driving under the influence, including vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated or DUI with injury

Can You Face Multiple Arraignments?

Yes.

Sometimes felony charges change. For instance, the prosecution might reduce your murder charges to voluntary manslaughter charges.

In this case, the court might arraign you again. When this occurs, you will enter the same plea as you did at your earlier arraignment hearing unless you entered into a plea bargain.

What Happens if You Fail to Attend Your Arraignment Hearing

If you willfully fail to show up for your arraignment, the judge will issue a bench warrant for your arrest. You will also face additional criminal charges, depending on your case.

The bench warrant does not expire. The court does not remove or delete it after a given duration of time. Instead, it remains effective until the court recalls it or you die.

There are viable excuses you can use as your legal strategy to challenge your failure to appear criminal charges, including:

  • You did not plan to evade your court process
  • The fact that you missed the court hearing was not on purpose
  • You had not signed any agreement to show up in court
  • You did not show up due to an emergency

The first three legal defenses are valid because they challenge some facts of the FTA crime, and the prosecution should prove the elements beyond a reasonable doubt before the court can find you guilty of the FTA offense.

The following are not legal defenses to FTA:

  • You did not feel like attending the court hearing
  • You ignored the court date because you believe you are innocent
  • You had other matters to attend to

Clearing Your Bench Warrant

Also called quashing or recalling a bench warrant, clearing your bench warrant implies the warrant will be cleared from the criminal judicial system.

You should attend court to have the warrant recalled.

Your defense lawyer can attend the court hearing on your behalf, as long as you failed to make a scheduled court appearance. However, if you violated your court order that stemmed from a felony, you should go to court in person, whether with or without a lawyer, to clear your bench warrant.

If you fail to recall your bench warrant, the police are entitled to apprehend you and take you to court. After the police take you to court, the court can either detain you or release you with a warning. The judge will decide after considering the following factors:

  • Flight risk
  • The case circumstances that resulted in the bench warrant
  • Criminal history

PC 991 Motion to Challenge Probable Cause

You can file a PC 991 motion if the following are correct:

  • You are prosecuted for a misdemeanor
  • You have been held in police custody until your arraignment
  • You have pleaded not guilty

Please note that you do not qualify for a probable cause court hearing if you are charged with a felony.

You should file the motion during your arraignment hearing.

Probable cause is a legal standard of the possibility that you have committed a certain crime. The police require probable cause before arresting you. Nevertheless, that is not always the case. Police officers could arrest someone before they have collected sufficient evidence to establish probable cause.

If you are eligible to file the 991 motion, it could be a vital defense strategy. If the court denies your motion, you lose nothing. If the judge decides there is no probable cause, they will grant the motion, and the court will dismiss your criminal charges.

The prosecution can refile your criminal charge within fifteen days. The new criminal charges can include new proof to support probable cause. You can file another PC 991 motion to counter the refilled charges. If the court grants the motion again, it bans the prosecution from ever bringing the charges.

The benefits of a successful 991 motion include the following:

  • You will be released from detention
  • You do not have to continue defending yourself against the criminal charges
  • You will incur fewer attorney fees
  • The energy, stress, and time of defending yourself against the criminal charges will be over within a few days.

Find a Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me

If you are scheduled to attend your arraignment hearing, you might have been arrested and posted bail, or you are still detained. Either way, this is the time to take steps that could make the process easier, including retaining an experienced defense attorney.

Los Angeles Criminal Attorney understands court procedures, prosecutors, and court personnel, and has the relevant resources and experience. We can review your case facts and advise you on the most favorable plea offer to take. We can also fight for your rights, bail amount elimination or reduction, and reduced criminal charges. Please call our office at 424-333-0943 to schedule your free case review.