Bond and First Appearance
In the State Criminal Justice System, the defendant will usually be brought before a Judge within forty-eight (48) hours depending on the time of the arrest. The hearing is called a "first appearance" hearing, and after reviewing a copy of the probable cause affidavit and the criminal history of the defendant, the Judge will make the final determination as to what the bond amount shall be. In larger jurisdictions, there are pre-set bond amounts for certain crimes so many times defendants can bond out of jail before the first appearance hearing.
The Charging Process
A copy of the probable cause affidavit is sent to the State Attorneys Office along with other police reports that might have been generated at the time of the arrest. The State Attorneys Office will then review the probable cause affidavit along with the other police reports and may meet with the alleged "victims" and police officers for the purpose of making a final determination as to what charges the Defendant will be prosecuted for. If the State Attorneys Office decides not to file charges, the case will be dismissed.
Arraignment and the Discovery Process
If the State Attorneys Office files charges, those charges will be filed at or before arraignment. Arraignment is a court hearing whereby the charges against the defendant are read in open court unless reading is waived, and the defendant is required to enter a plea of "guilty" or "not guilty" or "no contest." If a not guilty plea is entered, the case is set for trial and "discovery" begins.
Discovery is the process whereby the State Attorneys Office is obligated to turn over all police reports and documents that will be used in their prosecution. They also must turn over a witness list. Once the witness list is turned over, the defendant is permitted to take depositions of the all the State witnesses and of other individuals that could help the defense. Depositions are the single most important discovery tool in a state criminal case.
Plea Negotiations and Trial
Once the discovery process is complete, a defendant can either take a plea offer from the State Attorneys Office or elect to go to trial. Plea offers are made by the State Attorneys Office, and offers can range from pretrial diversion to probation to incarceration to a combination of probation and incarceration. Typically, plea offers are negotiated between the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney. If an agreement cannot be reached on a plea and sentence, the case goes to trial where the State Attorneys Office must prove its case to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
