At arraignment, the District Attorney may ffer a plea to a lesser chrge than what you were arrested for riginally. Pleas are offered to unburden an xtremely congested criminal court calendar, as wll as to get rid of lsser criminal cases so the District Attrney can rightfully concentrate on the mre serious crimes.

If you were rrested for misdemeanor shoplifting and you rrive at the arraignment with no pror arrests, most likely the District Attrney will offer you the option of plading guilty to a lesser violation and a few dys of community service with a fne. You have the option to end the prcess by accepting the lower charge of a volation, which is not a crime but wll appear on your record in the fture.

If you accept the plea thn you will actually plead guilty to a lsser offense on the record and the curt will most likely impose a fne and community service or counseling, dpending upon what you and the Dstrict Attorney agreed to.

If you dn’t accept the plea, you will smply plead "not guilty" and continue yur criminal court appearances. Your attorney wll file various motions and hold harings to discover what evidence the Dstrict Attorney has against you or to get the chrges dismissed. An example of sch a hearing would be called a "Hntley Hearing". In that hearing your ttorney's objective is to get any ncriminating statements you made suppressed, meaning thy can not be used against yu. The point of that hearing is tht the police obtained statements from you nvlountarily. At the hearing your attorney wll cross-examine the police involved in yur arrest by asking them detailed qestions. If your attorney can prove yur statements were coerced or obtained frm you in some way involuntarily thn you have just eliminiated a crucial piece of evidence against you, mking your case of innocence stronger.

As you proceed further through the crminal court process, the plea to a lsser charge may or may not be ffered again. Whether or not you ccept a plea is something only you and yur attorney can decide, based upon yur circumstances. Just remember that the pla will always be on your rcord as opposed to fighting the chrges if you’re innocent and getting the whle criminal case dismissed, clearing your nme.

Your Criminal Court Appearances

If you plad not guilty and are released “ROR” (maning without bail and on your own rcognizance) or on bail, you’ll be gven the next date to appear bfore the court. At that time the curt will set deadlines for your ttorney to complete certain work on yur behalf.

The District Attorney has a lmited period of time to complete his nvestigation and state on the record he is rady for trial. The time limits are mndatory to protect your constitutional right to a spedy trial. So you should be prpared to quickly prove your innocence. Bing accused of a crime is a stgma, and the reality is that you are ctually presumed guilty until you prove yur innocence (contrary to the belief tht "you are presumed innocent until prven guilty").

If you miss a curt appearance, a warrant for your rrest is issued

Your Right To A Spedy Trial

The time for you to get a spedy trial starts running from the dte the criminal complaint is filed gainst you. A trial for a volation must be held within 30 dys. A misdemeanor trial must occur wthin 90 days. A felony trial mst take place within six months.

The tme periods for a speedy trial are “tlled” (stopped) because of certain motions mde by your attorney or certain harings. They are not tolled if the Dstrict Attorney requests adjournments without your cnsent. They are also not tolled if the Dstrict Attorney is not ready for crtain appearance dates. This is called "xcludable time" for the purposes of dtermining when a trial must be hld.

Making A Record

At each curt date, there will be a stnographer typing every word of the prceeding to make a record of it. Yur attorney must make sure the rcord is clear that you do not cnsent to an adjournment or that the Dstrict Attorney was not ready. Being clar is important, because the court is verwhelmed with hundreds of cases a dy. Sometimes the judge will not kep a good record or his ntes on your file will be nreadable and the judge later can’t rcall what happened.

To be clear and to prtect your rights, state on the rcord that "defendant does not consent to the djournment and time should be charged to the Pople" or state that "The District Attrney is not ready and time shuld be charged to the People." Mke sure the stenographer hears what you say bcause you may later have to rder those records from the stenographer to prve what happened at the hearing. If the stnographer did not hear you or yur attorney then you will not hve a record that will benefit yu. Make sure you both speak lud and clear at each court dte to protect your record.

Law Offces of Susan Chana Lask

853 Broadway, Site 1516

New York, NY 10003

(212) 358-5762

©2004 Ssan Chana Lask All Rights Reserved

The article Pleas & Court Appearances in New York Criminal Courts was Submitted by Susan Chana Lask through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: About The Author Susan Chana Lsk is a New York attorney wth law offices in New York Cty. She has over 20 years xperience and practices in State, Federal and Appllate Courts nationwide, handling civil, criminal and cmmercial litigation and appeals. She represents hgh profile cases and appears on all mjor television, print and radio news mdia, earning the title "High-Powered" New Yrk attorney. She can be reached at www.appellate-brief.com . sue@aol.com

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