If arrested for a domestic violence charge in Orange County most likely you will sit in an Orange County jail unless you post bail. You will have many court hearings ahead of you and if you are able to post bail in order to appear in court with a suit and tie on instead of an orange jumpsuit it is a good idea. First impressions are important and in order to keep you out of jail or prison it's a lot easier if you are not already there. When you are released from jail you will receive paperwork which indicates when your court date is and at what Orange County courthouse. The first hearing is called the Arraignment. At this hearing you will find out the exact charges the District Attorney has filed against you. The Judge will also address issues of bail if you are still in jail or were never arrested. The Judge will also decide if the temporary restraining will become a permanent (at least during the pendency of the case). A not guilty plea will be entered at the Arraignment, and the case will then be set for a pretrial conference and then a preliminary hearing if you charged with a felony. Once we have all the information and discovery concerning the case, including speaking to any witnesses or character witnesses, the case will go to a Preliminary Hearing. If you are charged with a felony, the Orange County District Attorney must present enough evidence to convince the Judge that they have enough evidence to charge you with a felony. This is called the Preliminary Hearing. At this hearing the Orange County District Attorney may simply have the police officer testify as to what he was told by everyone else (hearsay which is allowed at this type of hearing) or the District Attorney may present the actual witnesses. The defense may present affirmative witnesses, but this is not usually done at this stage of the proceedings. If the Judge finds there is enough evidence, you will be held to answer on the felony charges. You will be arraigned again on these charges, and eventually if the case is not resolved, a jury trial will be set. If you are charged with a misdemeanor offense you will go from pretrial conferences directly to a jury trial. A jury trial is the same in a misdemeanor and a felony case, except the consequences are graver for one accused of a felony. Disclaimer: The information on this website is for general purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages, documents, comments, answers, emails, or other information should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information on this website is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship.
At the pretrial conference a variety of issues will be discussed. If we have not received all the "discovery" such as photographs, recorded statements, supplemental police reports and the such, this hearing may be continued. We do not want to move the case forward until we have all the evidence.
A jury trial consists of the jury selection process, the witnesses, the Judge advising the jury of the law they should use in evaluating the witness testimony and then the jury deliberations. You want a highly experienced orange county criminal defense attorney in order to bring you the best results. Don't wait, call me now.