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For those of you who have been charged with a criminal violation and are clients of our office, we want to assure you that our staff will do everything within our power to provide you with quality legal representation. For those of you who are family members or friends of an individual who has been charged with a criminal violation, we encourage you to lend your support to the person charged. The criminal justice system can be very trying and difficult to understand. We hope to give you a better understanding of what has happened to you... and, maybe more importantly, what will happen from this point forward. However, keep in mind, not all cases are the same. The following description will apply to most cases, but not all. If this seems confusing or doesn't seem to apply to you or your case, feel free to ask your attorney any questions you may have. There are five basic steps in the criminal justice system. Not every case will travel the same road. Your attorney will explain to you about your particular case, and where it is headed. The five (5) basic steps of a criminal proceeding are the:
Some of you have already been arrested by some police organization. You have been taken to jail and brought before a "judicial commissioner". The commissioner placed you under oath and asked you a series of questions about your financial situation. It is very important that you answered those questions truthfully for two reasons: if you answered any question falsely, you can be prosecuted for perjury; but also, this office has a tremendous caseload, and is not interested in representing someone who has the resources to hire their own lawyer. We are here to represent those individuals who truly can't afford private counsel. If you can afford to hire your own lawyer, you need to do just that. Your arrest was, of course, the first of the five steps of the criminal justice process. When you were taken before the commissioner, that was a process called an "initial appearance" or sometimes it is called an "arraignment". At that arraignment, the commissioner should have explained to you the offense you have been accused of committing. Additionally, the commissioner should have reviewed the bond set in your case and reviewed any conditions of release that have been imposed. The commissioner appointed this office to provide your legal representation and gave you a date to appear in court. Also, at that initial appearance, the commissioner ordered you to pay an "administrative fee," in an amount between $50 and $200. Once the amount of the "administrative fee" was set by the judicial commissioner, you were given a date, two weeks from the date of that initial appearance, by which to pay that fee. If you are unable to pay this fee within the two-week period, it will be deducted from any cash bond that you post or will be collected in the same manner as other court costs. You need to be aware that if you fail to pay this fee and the court determines your failure to be "willful failure," the court may consider that failure as an enhancement factor when imposing sentence if you are found guilty of an offense. Additionally, you should know that this fee can be waived or reduced if you do not have the financial ability to pay this fee. If you want your lawyer to petition the court seeking a reduction or waiver, please ask him or her to do so. While the justification for charging the fee is to allow the state to recover the cost of providing constitutionally mandated counsel for indigent citizens charged with criminal violations, none of that money goes to your court-appointed attorney. The money is collected and sent to Nashville where it goes into the state's "general fund." These funds are not given to your court-appointed lawyer. This office can only represent individuals the court has determined can not afford to hire their own attorney. If you are here to see an attorney but this office has not been appointed to represent you by the court or by a commissioner, we can not engage in representation of you - there must first be a judicial order of appointment entered. After the first stage of the process, the arrest, the next stage is called the preliminary hearing. The preliminary hearing will be conducted by one of five Sessions Court judges. The court that you will go to depends on the offense you have been charged with violating. There is a separate Sessions Court for individuals charged with driving under the influence of an intoxicant (sometimes called DUI or DWI) There is a separate court for individuals charged with misdemeanor offenses. A misdemeanor offense is any offense that carries less than 1 year in jail as potential punishment. Finally, there is a separate Sessions Court for individuals who have been charged with committing a felony offense. A felony offense is an offense where an individual, if convicted, could be sentenced to 1 year or more in jail. What happens in Sessions Court depends on a number of factors all unique to your case. Your attorney will discuss that with you privately and in detail. However, below is some basic information that may help you understand and contribute in a meaningful way to the favorable resolution of your case. This office has 22 attorneys, half of them practice in General Sessions Court. 4 attorneys are assigned to felony division, 4 are assigned to misdemeanor division and 3 are assigned to DUI division. They stay in those divisions of court for 6-month intervals. Additionally, we have 3 people in this office that are certified to do drug and/or alcohol assessments to determine if you have a problem coping with drugs or alcohol. If you think you have a drug or alcohol problem, consider asking your lawyer to be assessed. We can do it here in the office. All findings are confidential. No one but you, your lawyer and the assessment counselor will know what was discussed. In the event you do have a need for treatment, the counselor will recommend the appropriate treatment plan and, with your permission, will attempt to make arrangements to get you entered in the right programs. These treatment programs will consider your financial and work situations. When this office was appointed to represent you, one of the attorneys here, who works in that division of Sessions Court, was assigned to your case. He or she has preliminarily reviewed your file. It is your responsibility to set up an initial interview. Your attorney will ask you to come to his or her office to discuss your case. Please ask your family members, or anyone else who might be with you, to remain in the lobby while you go with the attorney. The information you discuss with your lawyer is private, confidential and should be shared with no one. Your lawyer is preparing your case for what is referred to as the preliminary hearing…the second of 5 stages of the criminal process. A preliminary hearing is sometimes called a probable cause hearing…a sessions judge only determines the existence of probable cause. This "standard" is different from what the state will have to prove at the 5th stage of the process, the trial before a jury. Since the "legal standard" is only probable cause, often the lawyer's strategy at this stage will be different from the strategy we employ at the Criminal Court level. Usually, you will not be called to testify, nor will any of your witnesses. That doesn't mean we don't want to know who those witnesses are and what they know about your case. We will attempt to interview them as soon as practical. But usually, we will not put them on the stand. Your lawyer will recommend to you what he or she thinks is the best strategy in your case. If you are not clear as to what the lawyer is trying to accomplish, ask him or her to explain it again so that you feel comfortable. Remember that a Sessions Court judge only has misdemeanor jurisdiction, which means they can only conclude cases that carry less than one year in jail. If you are charged with having committed a misdemeanor offense, including DUI, your case can be concluded in Sessions Court. If you have been arrested and released on bond, it is extremely important that you do not pick up any additional charges. The sentence for any additional felony charges that are brought against you while you are on bond for a felony charge must run consecutively, meaning back-to-back, if you are convicted of both charges. Consequently, if convicted of the two felony charges, you will receive a longer sentence if you pick up new charge while you are out on bond. Certain things must happen before your case can be concluded at Sessions level. Your attorney will discuss these things with you during your initial interview. If you are charged with having committed a felony offense, your case can not be concluded in Sessions Court, as Sessions Court judges only have misdemeanor jurisdiction. However, if you are charged with having committed a felony offense, and you wish to resolve your case at this stage of the proceedings, your attorney will discuss with the District Attorney the possibility of resolving your case in Sessions Court. This usually will involve you pleading guilty to a lesser or reduced misdemeanor charge. The assistant District Attorney must be willing to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor offense, and, most of the time, you must be willing to plead guilty to a misdemeanor offense. Whether or not this will happen in your case depends on a number of factors, including:
In the event your case is not concluded in Sessions Court, your case will proceed to the Grand Jury. The Grand Jury is the third stage of the criminal proceeding. They are a group of thirteen people who meet in secret, neither you nor your attorney will know when they meet to discuss your case nor will you nor your attorney be allowed to attend. The Grand Jury will hear only from the individuals subpoenaed by the sheriff at the request of the District Attorneys office. The Grand Jury makes the same "probable cause" determination; made by a Sessions Court judge, that is: is there probable cause to believe an offense was committed and is there probable cause to believe you committed that offense. Since the Grand Jury only hears state's witnesses, it should come as no surprise to you that the Grand Jury returns indictments against nearly every person charged with a criminal violation. The Grand Jury returns what is called an indictment. It becomes the new charging instrument, replacing the warrant that you were initially arrested on. The Grand Jury is not bound by the charges that were initially brought against you at the sessions level. In other words, the Grand Jury can increase the severity of the charges against you or add new charges. The Grand Jury can also enhance the charges against you. Once the Grand Jury returns an indictment against you, you will be notified by mail by the Criminal Court Clerk's office when and where to appear in Criminal Court for your arraignment which is the fourth stage of a criminal proceeding. The clerk will send notification to you in the form of a post card in the mail sent to the address listed on your arrest warrant. It is very important to you that the clerk's office has an accurate address to notify you. Otherwise, you will not be informed of your arraignment and the Criminal Court judge will issue an arrest order for your failure to appear at your arraignment. The Criminal Court Clerk is Ms. Martha Phillips. Her mailing address is: City/County Building Her telephone number is 215-2492. At your Criminal Court arraignment, the judge will do the same kinds of things the judicial commissioner did at the time of your arrest and Sessions Court arraignment. The judge will place you under oath, and ask you a series of questions. The judge will want to know if you have hired private counsel to represent you, or, if you claim that you can not afford a lawyer and ask the court to appoint an attorney, the judge will ask you about your financial ability to hire an attorney to determine if you qualify for court appointed counsel. The judge will advise you of the charges you now face after the Grand Jury has acted on your case and the judge will set your case on his or her docket. It is in Criminal Court where you will have an opportunity to have a jury trial, the fifth stage of the criminal proceeding. It is important to note, however, not every case will go through each of theses five stages, only your attorney can advise you as to your particular case. Ask him or her any questions you might have. Most of the attorneys in this office arrive at work around 8:00 a.m. in the morning. However, most are trying to gather their files and other materials in preparation for court. Most leave for court by 8:30 a.m. every morning. If you need to speak to your attorney, usually you have a better chance finding them available in the afternoon, usually between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Each attorney has voice mail that is protected by individual passwords. In other words, any message you might leave on an attorney's voice mail can only be accessed by that attorney. While you should not leave sensitive information on an attorney's voice mail, feel free to leave your attorney messages that you feel are appropriate. Attorneys check their voice mail daily. There is no dispute that the caseloads in this office are higher than what a private lawyer would typically handle. Your attorney has limited time to spend on his or her cases. Your personal involvement is critical to the successful resolution of your case. Keep in touch with your lawyer. Let him or her know how to get in touch with you. Leave us current phone numbers, both yours and a family member's. Let us know where you are living. Often we will communicate with you by letter and may have a need to contact you on extremely short notice. You and your case are important to us. Life can be difficult enough without a criminal conviction on your record. Please cooperate with your lawyer. We want to resolve your case in the best possible way. |
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