If you have hired a criminal defense law firm and are getting ready for an initial court hearing, you may be wondering what happens during the first court appearance. Information about this can be found below.
Reading of Charges
If you haven't already been arraigned, the court will read the charges against you. Your criminal defense attorney will have the opportunity to raise any potential objections they might have to the charges. Oftentimes, they'll discuss these separately with the prosecutor before the hearing, to get a feel for what's happening. If the judge believes there's a problem with the charges, the defense may ask the court to dismiss some or all of the charges.
Notably, there's no freeze on additional charges. In other words, the prosecution can bring more charges later. However, if they do, there will be another hearing, just like the first one, to determine if those new charges are worthwhile.
Affidavits and Minimal Testimony
When there are questions about the nature of the charges, the prosecution can have any police officers involved with the case testify. The defense or the judge can review any affidavits, documents explaining what happened to justify charges, and ask questions about the events.
Bear in mind, though, that the standard of proof during initial hearings is pretty low. The standard of "beyond a shadow of a doubt" doesn't kick in until you get to a full trial. At the initial hearings, the prosecution must only prove that a reasonable person, upon seeing the evidence, reading the affidavits, and hearing the testimony, would believe a crime might have happened. Likewise, there should be a reason to believe the defendant may have been involved with the crime.
Bail
Some courts break these issues up into separate hearings, but others will just plow through. Regardless of what the court does, you will have the opportunity to discuss the possibility of posting bail.
If the prosecution objects to your release on bail, they have to prove that you're a potential risk. This may be because you might flee, harm someone, or commit additional crimes. Judges usually want to see strong evidence or a consistent pattern of behavior to deny bail.
Presuming the judge grants bail, one of two things will happen. For many minor or first-time offenses, the court may allow you to return on your recognizance. That means you won't have to post cash, but you will have to appear for all additional hearings or face arrest. Otherwise, the court will set a cash amount, and you'll still have to come to all additional court appearances.
