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Arraignments and Pretrial Hearings

Review of Court Appearances During a Criminal Case

While most readers will be familiar from television and movies with a jury trial in a criminal case, the reality is that the vast majority of appearances that a defendant and their attorney make before the court in the course of a California criminal case are not jury trial dates. 

This article from our Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys discusses the process in both California state and federal court from the first appearance up to, but not including, a jury trial, if any, and the sentencing hearing.

Arraignments and Pretrial Hearings in California Criminal Cases
The criminal court process in California after an arrest includes many types of appearances.

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In federal court, a defendant is often brought before a magistrate judge for a pre-arraignment detention/bond hearing.

This addresses only the issues of whether or not the defendant should be retained in custody by the U.S. Marshalls and what conditions of release should be imposed prior to arraignment before a United States District Judge. 

In both federal and state courts, however, the arraignment hearing is the first opportunity for the defendant to enter either a guilty or a not guilty plea to the charges that the government has brought.

One of the main reasons of an arraignment is for the defendant to enter their initial plea to the charges against them.

Entering a Plea in Court

At arraignment, almost all defendants enter initial pleas of not guilty. 

Except in the relatively small number of cases where a plea agreement has been worked out ahead of time, or on the spot at the arraignment date, there is no practical advantage to entering a guilty plea initially. 

A not guilty plea can always be changed later on once a plea deal is worked out. 

Entering a not-guilty plea at arraignment is normally a prerequisite to receiving additional discovery beyond the initial police reports provided by the prosecution, as many District Attorney's offices will not process discovery requests until after arraignment.

However, some charges and some prosecutors call for arraignment-only offers that are so favorable that the defendant will want to take advantage of them without the opportunity to receive additional discovery or litigate the case through motion practice. 

Even in these cases, the typical procedure is to continue the arraignment, i.e., set a new arraignment date a few weeks in the future to give the defendant time to consider the offer. 

It is in no one's interest to pressure a defendant into a speedy guilty plea at the first court date only to have him or her come back to court shortly thereafter seeking to withdraw his or her plea.

Bail Issues

Arraignment is often the first time a criminal court judge addresses bail. Here, the prosecutor or defense lawyer can request a change in the defendant's bail status.

Posting Bail in a California Criminal Case
The first court appearance is the arraignment where is the issue of bail is reviewed by the judge.

Whether it be an increase or decrease in cash bail or a request to release the defendant on their own recognizance.

At the arraignment, the prosecution can request that bail or conditions of own recognizance release be set, even if the defendant already posted bond.

The prosecutor could also decide to file additional charges and might later request a higher bail already posted by the defendant.

In some cases, the prosecutor could request a hold pursuant to California Penal Code Section 1275.1, commonly called a “1275 hold.”

Under this statute, if probable cause exists showing the bail money posted was obtained from a defendant's criminal conduct, they can't use those funds to post bail to get released from custody.

This means any money used to post bail must first be evaluated at a hearing to determine whether the funds are from legitimate legal sources.

Post Arraignment Court Dates

Once arraignment is accomplished, a series of setting dates usually follow. In federal court, these might be called pretrial status conferences and occur relatively infrequently. 

Some judges will not physically bring the parties to court unless there is a dispute for the court to address. 

In California state court, however, a number of in-person status dates are typical. 

In felony cases, these dates precede the preliminary hearing. The names vary from county to county and courthouse to courthouse, but these dates are often called:

  • preliminary hearing settings,
  • early disposition dates,
  • felony settlement conferences, or
  • pretrial dates (despite being pre-preliminary hearings).

In misdemeanor cases, as there is no upcoming preliminary hearing, these dates are most often called simply pretrial conferences or pretrial hearings.

Filing Motions

Many issues can be addressed at these setting dates, such as a motion to continue. Courts will hear certain types of motions and, if necessary, conduct an evidentiary hearing. 

Courts will hear arguments about the conditions of the defendant's release from custody which arise during the pendency of the case, such as:

  • requests to travel outside the jurisdiction, or
  • requests by the prosecution for imposition of more restrictive conditions, such as electronic monitoring based on some alleged violation of release conditions.

Discovery Process

One of the critical issues that is addressed between the parties, usually off the record, at these setting dates is discovery

The government has an ongoing duty, both constitutional and statutory in the case of California state courts, to turn over important evidence in the government's possession such as:

  • recorded witness statements,
  • police reports,
  • physical evidence such as DNA analysis, etc.

The reality of the system, however, is that this evidence is rarely, if ever, ready to be turned over all at once at the arraignment date. 

The discovery process may take multiple court dates to complete, and one or both parties may request continuances based on outstanding discovery.

Case Settlement

The other critical function of setting dates is to give the parties an opportunity to discuss the settlement of the case. 

This is particularly true in California state courts, where the number of cases is voluminous compared to the number of prosecutors employed by the District Attorney's office.

Case Settlement in a California Criminal Case
We may be able to negotiate with the prosecutor for a favorable resolution in your case.

There is often a limited opportunity to discuss the case in detail and outline the terms of a possible settlement except when the setting date in court necessitates communication between the parties. 

For this reason, many settlements are worked out face-to-face in court. A felony settlement conference is a meeting in which your attorney and the district attorney exchange information, discuss resolving the case, and inform the judge if the case is ready for trial.

The criminal case process can seem opaque, especially for a first-time defendant or their family members. 

If you or a loved one has been charged with a crime and needs guidance on the criminal court process, contact our experienced team of criminal defense lawyers for an initial consultation.

Eisner Gorin LLP has two office locations in Los Angeles County. For an initial consultation, call (310) 328-3776.

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