For many of our clients, this is the first time they’re going through the criminal justice system. With that comes a lot of anxiety and concern about what to expect. They aren’t sure what this process is going to look like for them.
Today, I’m going to go over the ten stages of a criminal case as I like to think of them. I’m Paul Ghanouni, founder and managing attorney at Ghanouni Teen & Young Adult Defense Firm, where we focus on helping teens and young adults protect their future when they get in trouble with the law. Our firm primarily focuses on helping people who are in their mid-20s and younger.
Understand that I’m going over the ten stages of criminal and juvenile cases, and these stages may not apply in every case. They may not apply to your case. But this is a big-picture overview for you. I want you to have an overall understanding of what the process can look like. If you need specific help for your case, please contact our office for specific legal advice.
The investigative phase is the first phase we’re dealing with here. Understand that as soon as this investigative phase begins, law enforcement, prosecutors, and their investigators start working on their case against you. The investigative phase may take 10 to 15 minutes on the side of the road in the case of a traffic stop, or it could be something that takes much longer if it’s a more complex type of case.
The next stage is the charges. The charges can be as simple as law enforcement writing a ticket on the scene in the case of traffic or certain misdemeanor cases. It can also involve law enforcement getting a warrant for an individual’s arrest and beginning the charging process that way.
The next stage we look at is the arrest. Not every case has an arrest. In some cases, the arrest actually comes before the initial charges. The charges and the arrest often happen at or around the same time.
If somebody is arrested and can’t bond out of jail, then the next place they go is the first appearance hearing.
The first appearance hearing takes place when somebody has been arrested and they can’t afford bond or don’t have a bond. This hearing takes place within 72 hours of the person being charged and arrested.
The judge at that hearing will make an initial determination of bond if that judge can set bond, how much the bond should be, and what types of conditions of bond to put in place.
This is a fundamental point where an attorney can be involved to help ensure, or attempt to get, the bond to an amount that the person can post to be able to get out of jail, and that the conditions are ones that the person can live with and be able to continue their lives.
After somebody is out of jail, or if they never went to jail, the next stage that takes place is the formal charges. You may be thinking, “Well, I thought there were charges that took place in step two?” There were charges that took place in step two. Those charges were brought about by the law enforcement officer. The formal charges in step five are brought about by the prosecutor’s office.
A prosecutor’s office reviews evidence, incident reports, and charges brought by the officer. They can charge somebody with the same things that the officer charged them with, or they can add charges, take away charges, or change charges.
Sometimes, we see people who are confused because they don’t understand why the charges they were originally given when arrested or given a ticket are different from the ones when they went to court or why they have more charges when they went to court.
The next stage that comes after the formal charges is the arraignment. The arraignment is when you are formally told what all the charges are in court.
This is a fundamental date because you have ten days from the date of your arraignment to file motions to either challenge evidence, challenge the charging document, or file other types of motions.
It’s really important to have an attorney at the arraignment during this process. We’ve seen people who thought, “Well, I’ll go to the arraignment, I’ll see what’s going to happen with my case, and then I’ll make a decision about whether or not to get an attorney.” Some of those people miss very important deadlines that take place at that arraignment.
Next, we talk about the formal exchange of evidence. I say it that way because there are motions that get filed to get evidence from the prosecutor’s office, and certain things that we’re required to provide to the prosecutor’s office.
We can be doing an investigation throughout this entire process, getting other records, interviewing witnesses, and trying to find other information that can be beneficial. But the formal exchange of evidence typically takes place after arraignment.
The next stages you’ll see in some cases are calendar calls and pre-trial motions. Stages eight and nine, as I’ve put them here, depending on the court, can be flipped. Some courts have calendar calls first and then pre-trial motions. Some courts have pre-trial motions and then calendar calls.
The fundamental thing to understand here is that the calendar call is going to be an announcement of whether your case is ready for trial or not. That’s often the next stage that people end up seeing in a criminal case: showing up for a calendar call, having to announce whether their case is ready for trial or not, and then being prepared to go forward with a trial at a future date if their case is ready for trial.
The pre-trial motions are motions that will take place to challenge evidence, challenge the admissibility of statements, challenge law enforcement’s conduct, and those types of things. When you hear about people saying evidence got thrown out, that’s usually through pre-trial motions.
The next stage that you’ll typically see in a criminal or juvenile case is the trial. That’s going in front of a judge or a jury, depending on the type of case and the court that it’s in, for them to determine whether somebody is guilty or innocent of the charges.
Not every case has to get through all of these stages. At any point during this entire process, negotiations can take place. Information can be presented to prosecutors. The case could be dismissed either by agreement, through negotiations, or through the exclusion of evidence. But this is the overall process that you’re dealing with.
The earlier that a criminal defense attorney can get involved in this process, the higher the likelihood of having a more quality investigation to look at options to try to get the case resolved favorably and to help you throughout the process. We always recommend getting a criminal defense attorney involved as early in this process as possible so that you have everything you need, all of your rights are protected, and we have the highest chances of getting the best outcome for your case.
Starting from the beginning is when law enforcement, prosecutors, and their investigators start preparing their case against you. So if you wait until later stages to get an attorney, you’re already behind the eight ball. We want to make sure that you have every opportunity for your future.
If you’re dealing with a criminal case and you need help, regardless of whether you think you’re being investigated, whether you’ve already been arrested or charged otherwise, or whether you’ve already gone to court, we’re here to help. We can help you understand your options and potential outcomes. Please contact our office to have a defense strategy meeting to go over where you are in your case, what options make sense for you, and to see if it makes sense for our team to help you.
Ghanouni Teen & Young Adult Defense Firm
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