Below is a brief explanation of each part of the process that you may experience when charged with a crime.

First Appearance
If you have been arrested you will be taken before a Judge within 24 hours for your first appearance.  There, you will be informed of the charge(s) against you.  You will have a Public Defender there representing your interests for the time being (if you have not already hired a private attorney).  You are not required to say anything, anything that you say may be used against you at a later time.  In San Diego County, bond is usually addressed at first appearance, therefore you may get a reduced bond amount or you may get released to pretrial services at that time.

• Pretrial Services - The goal of the San Diego County Pretrial Services Program is to provide accurate and unbiased information to the Court for making decisions regarding the custody or release of persons accused of a crime and to reduce the potential for failure to appear for court or the rearrest of the person while on supervised release.  Pretrial Services staff members obtain background information concerning an accused's family, residence, employment, health, prior and pending criminal cases and/or probationary status.  For people released to the program, staff members monitor your compliance with their conditions of release, notifies you of future court dates, and assists you with court appearance matters.  If you violate any conditions of your release you may be rearrested and given no bond.
• Supervised Release - The Pretrial Services program provides Judges with a release option other than a monetary bond or a "ROR" (release on own recognizance).  Pretrial Services staff members monitor you if you are ordered to "supervised release" by a Judge.  You must report regularly to the Pretrial staff until your case is disposed of or until a Judge ceases the pretrial release.  You may also be required to comply with special court-ordered conditions such as random urinalysis, drug and alcohol evaluations, AA or NA meetings, curfews, etc.  Again, if you violate any conditions of your release you may be rearrested and given no bond.

Filing
Whether or not your case gets formally filed is solely up the prosecutor assigned to the case.  Prosecutors are assigned your case based on the first letter of your last name in most cases.  They will generally look at any and all police reports and make contact by phone or in person with any civilian witnesses and the lead police officer(s) in order to get a full picture of what is alleged in the police reports.  After that review, they can choose to either decline the case or file it.  If the case is declined it means there is no formal filing and for the time being, the case is basically dismissed.  However, they can still refile the charges as long as they stay within the time frame of your constitutional speedy trial rights (90 days for a misdemeanor, 175 days for a felony).  If the case is filed then your case will move on to arraignment.  In all cases it is in your best interests to hire or at least talk to an attorney prior to a filing decision being made by the State.  Often times, your attorney can make contact with the State during the filing period and give them the information necessary to effectuate a decline.

Arraignment
The arraignment is conducted in open court and consists of the Judge reading the information telling you what crime(s) the State is formally charging you with.  At this time you can enter either a plea of guilty or a plea of not guilty.  In most cases you will enter a plea of not guilty so that your attorney can review the documents and evidence the State plans to use against you in a potential trial.  You may waive the right to this formal reading by hiring an attorney and that attorney filing what is called a Written Plea of Not Guilty.  In that case you do not have to appear at the arraignment.  However, if you have not hired an attorney or confirmed with that attorney that they have filed a Written Plea of Not Guilty, you must appear at your arraignment or a warrant will be issued for your arrest.

Case Management / Pretrial Conference
After arraignment you will be assigned a case management or pretrial conference date.  This is a court date where a trial date normally gets set in the future.  That trial date can be a firm date so you have to make sure to give your attorney all the information regarding witnesses and defenses as early as possible.  It is possible that your case could be continued until another case management / pretrial conference date if both sides are working on a plea agreement, but most of the time your case will simply be given a trial date if there is no negotiated plea at the time.

Plea Offers
At varying times throughout the time your case is pending, the State may make plea offers to you through your attorney.  A plea offer is what the State is offering you as a punishment in exchange for you pleading either guilty or no contest to the charges filed against you.  Even if your attorney knows that the plea offer is not acceptable to you based on your conversations, he or she is still required to present you with that offer.  Your attorney can give you his or her professional advice on what may be the best thing to do, however, the ultimate choice whether to resolve your case through a plea or trial is up to you.  If you choose to enter into a plea agreement, you will sign a Waiver of RIghts form which you must read in full or have read to you before you sign.  It has all of the rights that you give up by entering a plea and when you understand and agree to waiving all of those rights then you may sign the form and proceed with the plea.

Straight Up Pleas
If you get an offer from the State and do not want to accept it, but also do not feel that a trial is in your best interests there is another option.  A straight up plea is where you plea guilty or no contest to the charges filed against you and ask the Judge to sentence you.  You are allowed to present witnesses on your behalf and tell the Judge yourself why you should receive the sentence you are seeking at this hearing.  The State also may call witnesses at this hearing and will make a recommendation to the Judge on what they believe the Judge should give you as a sentence.  The State's plea offer is not necessarily the same as what their recommendation will be on a straight up plea to the Judge.  The most important thing to remember when considering a straight up plea to the Court is the following: THE COURT MAY SENTENCE YOU TO ANYTHING UP TO THE STATUTORY MAXIMUM FOR THE OFFENSE(S) YOU ARE CHARGED WITH.  There is no guarantee on what your sentence will be and it is possible that the Court will sentence you to more than the State offered you or recommended.

Motions to Suppress
In many cases there are issues that arise either from the police reports themselves or from depositions of some of the parties involved that give rise to a potential motion.  A motion to suppress is brought by your attorney on your behalf trying to eliminate a certain part of the case because your rights were violated when the police obtained this information or evidence.  Motions are decided by the Judge after a hearing where witnesses are called.  You are entitled to call witnesses at a Motion to Suppress so you must advise your attorney if you feel you want someone to be present at the motion.  All cases do not have a basis for a motion to be filed.  A Motion to Suppress must be filed in good faith and based on some law that the attorney has knowledge of.  If you win your Motion to Suppress it often has a positive effect on the resolution of your case.

Docket Sounding
Anywhere from a week to three days before your trial date you will have what is called a docket sounding.  This gives both the defense and the State the opportunity to ask for a continuance if they believe it is necessary for some reason.  It is solely up to the Judge whether or not to grant a continuance and just because one side asks for one does not mean it will be granted.  This another place where, if a plea agreement has been worked out, you can enter a plea if that is what you have decided to do.

Trial
If you choose that a trial is in your best interests given all the circumstances surrounding your case then you should already have a trial date set from the case management.  Well before this trial date comes up you must provide information on any potential witnesses or defenses to your attorney so he or she has time to investigate the case fully and subpoena any witnesses that will be needed on your behalf.  A trial begins by selecting a jury from the San Diego community.  You do participate in this process by watching and listening.  Your input on which jurors you like or dislike for your case is crucial in making a determination on which jurors to keep on the jury.  After the jury is selected, the trial begins with opening statements.  The defense has the option of reserving its opening statement until the State has presented all of its evidence.  The State presents their witnesses and evidence first and when they are finished, the State rests.  If the Court finds that there has been enough evidence presented by the State to prove the elements of the crime on a minimal level, then the case goes to the defense's side.  Depending on a variety of factors, you may or may not call any witnesses.  You always have the Right to Remain Silent.  You do not have to testify on your own behalf and the jury will instructed that they cannot infer anything from you not testifying in your trial.  When the defense rests, then the Court will then again determine if there has been enough evidence presented by the State, now coupled with what has been presented by the defense, to send the case to the jury to determine whether you are guilty or not guilty of the crime(s) you are charged with.

Goal
Our goal at The Greene Law Firm, P.A. is to succeed for you.  Whether you want a trial or just the best possible way to resolve your case, we aim to do everything in our power to accomplish that.  In criminal cases there can never be a guaranteed result, but what we can give you is our legal opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of your case in order to assist you in making a decision about what to do.  The ultimate decision on whether to have a trial or to enter into a plea agreement will always be your decision to make.