Are You Guilty Of A Criminal Charge If You Were Arrested?

A lot of people these days believe that if they were arrested, this must automatically imply that law enforcement authorities consider them to be guilty of committing a certain crime.

While being arrested does not mean that you are already guilty of all charges, it does imply certain obligations. First of all, after the arrest, you will be given a date when you need to show up at a court hearing. This initial hearing is called the arraignment and it is important for you to appear right on time or even ahead of the schedule. Why? Because if you are not going to show up, additional “failure to appear” charges will be contributed into the case.

The arraignment has its reasons. First of all, the judge is going to read you your rights. According to constitution, every citizen has a right to be represented by a legal attorney. If you do not have a legal representative just yet, you may ask the court to give you some time to find a decent one.

The judge is also going to provide you with all the necessary information on charges you were accused of. He or she is going to tell you about all potential consequences and penalties, which may include expensive fines, community service, alcohol or drug awareness classes or even time in county jail or state prison. Penalties vary from cases to case and largely depend on consequences of the crime.

Then, the judge is going to give you a possibility to enter a plea bargain. You will have a choice of pleading guilty, not guilty or no contest. Now, this is a very important decision that could have a huge impact on how your case is going to be resolved. Hence, if you had no chance to consult a qualified lawyer on the matter just yet, ask the judge for some time to do so. The court will grant you certain time to discuss all the details of the bargain with the attorney.

During the arraignment, you are going to have a possibility to enter in a plea bargain with the prosecution. It is basically a kind of offer that the prosecutor is going to give you in exchange for your guilty plea.

For instance, let us say a person has committed some minor crime. Now, prior to appearing in court, this individual has a chance to talk with the prosecution about possible outcomes. The prosecution tells this person that he or she may be facing jail time, so it is best to plead guilty of a misdemeanor. During the arraignment, the judge is telling the defendant about his rights and his right for being represented by an attorney.

The defendant may wish to find a good lawyer first, so the arraignment is going to continue in, let us say, 30 days. The defendant finds a lawyer, who tells him that he committed a mere infraction and there can be no jail time in his case, so it is a good thing he or she did not plead guilty when the prosecution was asking for it.

For more information visit www.losangeles-criminaldefense.org