SO...YOU'VE BEEN ARRESTED....WHAT'S NEXT?
STEP 1
I'M IN JAIL....GET ME OUT!!
Nobody wants to be in jail. What can you do to get out? It is the law that within 72 hours you will be given information on why you are arrested and how much your bond will be. This is usually done in CALL OUT. A video camera will connect you at the jail with the judge at the court house. The judge will give you the information.
STEP 2
I NEED A BOND!!
I have a BOND. A bond is the amount of money you have to pay to show good faith that you will be at all the court appearances regarding your arrest. The bond can be posted in cash, property or commercial surety (bondsman). If you do NOT show up at court (forgetting is not an acceptable reason), you will be in big trouble. There will be a BENCH WARRANT issued for you. This means that if you get stopped by the police, you will go back to JAIL. You do NOT want a BENCH WARRANT. I have NO MONEY to pay for my BOND. There are bondsmen that are willing to help those who do not have the full amount of money to pay for a bond. They will put up the full amount while you make a payment to them for the service. What if the price is still too much even with the help of a bondsman? Your attorney (yes you need an attorney) will write a Motion for Bond Reduction and request that a judge consider reducing the amount of the bond or allowing a "sign-out". The judge can say yes or no. It is why the judge is the judge. You are paying the attorney for filing the motion and asking the court to reduce the bond. Attorneys cannot guarantee that the judge will say yes.
Most bonds require cash from you. However, some are property bonds and may use your home as collateral. Another person may offer to provide property for you to get your BOND. However, if you do NOT go to all of the court appearances, then the bondsman will have to pay all of the amount and will come looking for you. Your person with the property can lose that property to the bondsman. You will go back to jail and stay there because the bondsman will not cover you anymore and the person with the property will never talk to you again.
In all instances, IF YOU DO NOT GO TO COURT, you will GO TO JAIL.
The judges do not like you to miss court and consider it disrespectful. Keeping this in mind, when you do not show up in court you are found to be IN CONTEMPT. This will put you IN JAIL. You will have a BENCH WARRANT.
Contact your ATTORNEY IMMEDIATELY.
STEP 3
COURT APPEARANCES
I WANT THIS OVER...NOW!
CALL OUT
WHAT DID I DO?
Once you have been arrested, you were sent to CALL OUT to find out your arrest and bond information.
BOND REDUCTION HEARING
I NEED MONEY!!
If you do not have enough money to pay for the bond even with help from a bondsman, you may have an attorney file a Motion for Bond Reduction and ask the judge to lower your bond so that you can raise the money needed to get out of jail. The judge has the right to say "yes" or "no". You pay the attorney for the filing of the motion and his representation of you in court. No attorney can guarantee that the judge will say yes. There are no refunds if the judge says no.
ARRAIGNMENT
GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY
This may be your first appearance after you have been released from jail or it may occur while you are in jail if you have not bonded out. The purpose of this court date is for you to say whether you are guilty or not guilty.
MOTIONS
DETAILS OF CRIME
The next court date is the Motion Hearing. At this court date, the attorney (yes, you need an attorney) has (or will) requested all the information that the District Attorney has on the crime you were alleged to commit when they arrested you. The District Attorney may give them to your attorney at court or may choose to mail them to his office. Sometimes, there may be a video of the crime.
STATUS
TALK ABOUT THE CASE
This court date is called the Status. At this time, your attorney, the District Attorney and your Judge, will talk about the case. They will review the details and each make suggestions for how they think the case should be handled. Your attorney will do his best to represent you. He has reviewed the information the District Attorney sent to him from the Motion Hearing. He may decide to ask for an additional motion or request that certain information not be used in court as it is inconclusive or not relevant.
PRE-TRIAL
WILL THERE BE A TRIAL?
At this court date, your attorney and the District Attorney discuss your case and come to an agreement. They may decide to let you plea on a lesser charge (THIS IS A GOOD THING) or they may decide it would be better to go to Trial. They take their suggestion to the Judge. The judge has the right to say YES or NO.
If the decision is made to accept a plea your attorney will talk to you about the plea. You can say yes or you can say no and request a trial. A trial is not always a wise decision because the outcome depends on the jurors. However, it is your decision. If you decide to go with a plea, the court will accept your plea at that time. You will skip the Trial court date and go to the Sentence court date.
TRIAL
I DIDN'T DO IT!!!
At this court date, you will be represented by your attorney and the State of Louisiana will be represented by the District Attorney. Your trial will be before only the Judge or your trial will be before jurors. If it is before the jurors, the first day at least will be spent with your attorney and the District Attorney choosing the jurors. Trials can last as little as one day or go on for weeks. At the end of the trial, there will be a VERDICT. This is the decision made by the Judge or jurors regarding whether you are innocent or guilty of the crime charged or a lesser charge. If you are innocent, there will be no more court and the case dismissed. You will be free to go.
SENTENCE
WHAT I WILL HAVE TO DO
At this court date, you will find out how much time in jail or probation time you will have to serve to complete the requirements of sentence. If you are still in jail, you may need to spend more time there or you may have served enough time and will be released. If you are given probation, you will be required to contact your probation officer and report to him or her. Your probation officer will be your overseer. Do what your probation officer says or you will be BACK IN COURT!!
REVIEW
I'VE BEEN GOOD!!!
At this court date, the Judge reviews what you have done. If you had classes to attend, community service, fines or a probation officer....did you follow through and complete all assignments? If you are serving a jail sentence, will you be released early for GOOD TIME SERVED or will you complete the entire sentence? Either way, it is to your benefit to be the best that you can be. DO NOT GET IN TROUBLE OR ARRESTED DURING THIS TIME.
Hopefully this will answer any questions you may have about the process.
I know that it can be confusing and challenging. Please contact my office with any questions you may have.