Understanding the California Criminal Court Process

Arrest And Booking

After an arrest, you will generally be brought to the local jail. There, you will be booked. Police will record your personal information, like your name, address and the details of your arrest. For lesser offenses, you could be released after booking on your own recognizance — that is, after promising to appear at your next court appearance. If you have a defense attorney with you at this point, it can drastically reduce the stress of being in an unfamiliar situation.

Arraignment

The arraignment is your next court appearance. There, you will hear the charges being filed against you and will enter your plea. In California, you can plead either guilty, not guilty or nolo contendere, which means no contest and has much the same effect as a guilty plea.

Pleading guilty or nolo contendere skips the bulk of the court process and proceeds right to sentencing. Pleading not guilty, on the other hand, forces the prosecutor to prove the case against you. Having a criminal defense attorney present at this juncture can help you avoid making a mistake that will leave you with a permanent criminal record.

Bail

At your arraignment, the judge will address the issue of bail. This is the amount of money you will have to put up if you do not want to stay in jail until your trial. The amount of bail depends on the seriousness of the crime and whether you are a flight risk and frequently abides by your county’s bail schedule. A skilled criminal defense attorney, however, can help reduce bail by arguing on your behalf.

The Pretrial Process And Preliminary Hearings

Most criminal cases in California are resolved well before trial, through the pretrial and negotiation process. This is where you, your criminal defense attorney and the prosecutor gather evidence, make motions and consider plea deals. Among the things that can happen during the pretrial process are:

• Motions to suppress: If the police obtained evidence in violation of your civil rights, a skilled defense lawyer can have that evidence suppressed and excluded from trial, preventing the prosecutor from using it against you.
• Pitchess motions: A Pitchess motion seeks to obtain the personnel files of any police officers who had a role in your investigation and arrest. Many officers have histories of bias that can taint their role in your case.
• Evidentiary motions: Not all evidence is credible, and keeping the unreliable and damaging evidence out of trial by making evidentiary motions during the pretrial stage is something a criminal defense attorney knows how to do.

Trial

If no resolution is made during the pretrial process, your case will go to trial. Occasionally, your best option will be a bench trial, where the judge will also act as the jury. More often, it will be a jury trial. These have numerous stages, many of which are shown in the many courtroom dramas you can watch on TV:

• Jury selection: The people who sit on the jury will determine your fate in trial, so choosing them carefully can make a big difference.
• Trial: This begins with the opening statements of the prosecution and defense, proceeds to the prosecution’s case and then the defense’s response, and ends with closing statements.
• Deliberations: The jury will deliberate among themselves, in secret, after the trial.
• Verdict: After deliberating, the jury will issue its verdict: guilty or not guilty.

Sentencing Hearing

If the jury’s verdict is guilty, then the case will proceed to a sentencing hearing. This is where the prosecutor will try to convince the judge to issue a heavy sentence, while your defense attorney gives all the reasons for a light one.

Appeals

Throughout this process, issues can arise that call for a higher court to resolve. These are appeals and can make a huge difference in your case if they are pursued vigorously.