Misdemeanor Cases



Misdemeanor Cases

Initial Police Investigation and the filing of charges

1) Crime is discovered by police or reported by witness or victim

2a) Police respond and investigate to determine if a crime was committed

-If no crime, no report is issued

-If they believe that a crime is committed, they will write a police report

-May decide to make an arrest (Police can only hold suspect for 24 hours if they do not have a warrant)

-If arrested, they are booked at the jailhouse (Log charges, pedigree, arrest date, take picture, etc.)

-Police must apply for charges through the St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s office for state charges

-Police submit police report to prosecutor

-Prosecutor reviews police report and determines what charges to file, if any

-If charges, Information and Request for Warrant is typed up by our office and sent to the associate circuit court

-Charging document is “officially” filed with the court

-Judge reviews charging document and creates an arrest warrants, also sets bond

-Warrant allows the police to hold the person longer than 24 hours (Unless the defendant can post bond)

-Defendant is then transported to the St. Charles County Jail, if not already there

-Defendant can post bond at any time if bond is authorized

-If the person is not in custody, then our office must wait until they are arrested before we can proceed.

2b) If a police officer does not arrest the person on site and believes that a crime has been committed, then

-Police officer writes report and then submits the report to the St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for state

crimes

-Prosecutor reviews police report and determines what charges to file, if any

- If charges, Information is typed up by our office and sent to the associate circuit court

-Charging document is “officially” filed with the court

-Court then prepares a summons that will order the defendant to appear in court for an arraignment

-The summons is sent to the Sheriff’s Department (Civil Process) to serve the summons

-A police officer will attempt to locate the defendant and serve the summons, if found the person will be served

-If the person is not served the paper will be returned Non-Est

-If returned Non-Est, defendant will probably not appear for court date and an arrest warrant will be issued

-However, if the defendant somehow finds out the court date, the defendant may appear

2c) It should be noted that the Prosecutor’s office could file misdemeanor charges and ask for an arrest warrant when the person IS

NOT is custody (This is rare for misdemeanors, but not for felonies)

3) Arraignment

-Charges are read to the defendant

-Defendant is read rights (Court is interested in whether the defendant has an attorney)

-Defendant is required to enter a plea (The case could end here; but really rare at this point)

-If the defendant does not have an attorney, the court can set aside time for the defendant to find one (Counsel status hearing)

-Defendant can represent him/herself (This is called Pro Se)

-The defendant or defendant’s counsel may waive the arraignment (Defendant may not be present)

-Defendant is then given the next court date, which is usually a setting/disposition or bench trial date

-If the defendant or an attorney does not appear, then the judge will issue a warrant for the defendant

-If the defendant is incarcerated, it is possible that a bond reduction hearing could take place during the arraignment or a date

could be set for one

-If the defendant is in custody, it is not uncommon for the judge to arraign the defendant in the jail

4) Bond Reduction Hearing or Bond Hearing (Generally done only if defendant is incarcerated)

-Defendant or Defendant’s attorney makes arguments for why the bond should be lowered

-State makes arguments for why it should stay the same or even be increased

-Prosecutors can also consent to the bond reduction

-Judge will examine: nature of the crime, flight risk, and ties to the community

-Victim can give a victim impact statement concerning bond reduction

-Judge then makes the decision about the defendant’s bond

-Possible that the defendant could plead guilty at this hearing (unlikely)

-Again, defendant can be released if the bond can be posted

-The judge could release the defendant on his own recognizance (not required to post anything)

-Friends or family members could come up with the money or property

-Could hire a bonds person to post bond for a fee

5) Counsel Status Hearing

-This allows time for the defendant to find an attorney

-Defendant is required to appear before the court to give the court the status of counsel (Do you have an attorney yet?)

-If the defendant has counsel the defense attorney may enter into the case (Defendant will probably not be there)

-If the defendant does not appear and no counsel, the court may issue a warrant for the defendant

-If the defendant does not have an attorney, the defendant may ask for more time

-Judge has the discretion to give more time to the defendant, it is not uncommon for 3 or 4 counsel statuses take place before judge becomes impatient

-If the defendant cannot afford an attorney, he or she may apply for a public defender

-If the defendant is turned down by the public defender, he or she may ask for an indigency hearing

-A indigency hearing is basically an appeal to the judge, asking the judge to order a public defender to represent

him or her

-Generally speaking, if the defendant has a job, property, or assets, the public defender system will turn them down

-A counsel status may take place at any time during the process (For example, the defendant’s attorney quits or withdraws

due to a conflict or because the defendant is not paying the attorney)

-It should be noted that an attorney could withdraw at just about any point of the case

-It is possible that the defendant could plea guilty at the counsel status or indigency hearing

6) Setting or Disposition

-The case will either be disposed (closed) or it will be set for trial

-The defendant could plead guilty at this point

-The defendant may or may not be present (Counsel may just appear)

-Defendant will probably not be present if the plea is not going to take place

7) Bench Trial

-A trial that will take place before a judge, no jury present

-Defendant may request a jury trial

-Prosecutor must prove proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime has been committed

-Victim, witnesses, police officers may be subpoenaed to testify

-Defense is allowed to present a case too

-HOWEVER, it should be noted that a trial would not necessarily take place at the first setting

-Usually, the case will be set several times before a trial will actually take place

-The defendant could plead guilty at this time

-It should be noted that most defendants plead guilty; but they always have the right to request a trial

-If a bench trial takes place, the judge may rule on guilt/innocence on the same day as the trial or the judge may take the case under advisement and rule on a later date

8) Jury Trial

-The defendant has the right to ask for a jury trial

-If the defendant requests, the case is sent to circuit court to be certified

-Court then sets a pre-conference date and a jury trial date

-Again, the defendant could plead guilty at any time

-Jury trials are generally rare in misdemeanors cases

-If a jury trail is requested, the case is sent to circuit court to be certified, once the case has been certified, the court adds a -01 after the case number, i.e. 04CR123456-01

9) Other Important Notes

-Plea-bargaining may take place at any time during the process

-A defense attorney may withdraw from the case at any time

-It is possible that any court date could change or continued to a future date at the last minute

-When the defendant pleads guilty and is sentenced the same day, a victim may give a victim impact statement

-It is possible that a defendant could be sentenced on a different day than the plea; this is generally rare for misdemeanors

-The prosecutor can refuse to file charges or drop charges at anytime

-A warrant may be issued for the defendant, if the defendant or defendant’s attorney fails to appear

-If you receive a subpoena; you should call the day before the court date to confirm that the hearing/trial will take place

-You do not need to appear at any court date UNLESS you receive a subpoena

-Restitution can only be ordered if the defendant is placed on probation

-Most defendants plead guilty and a trial is not needed; but defendant has the right to request a trial

****This outline describes how MISDEAMENOR cases GENERALLY move through the criminal justice system. It should be noted that cases may deviate from the above outline at anytime. It can be difficult to predict how a case will move through the system due to our complex legal system. The above outline does not include every type of hearing or process in our court system.

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