• Defendant must be arraigned within 72 hours of arrest

• Defendant's charged with felonies enter pleas of not guilty and deny allegations at the initial arriagnment.
• The issue of bail will be addressed at arraignment.
• If defendant is not represented by a private attorney, the Court will appoint an attorney subject to repayment of the County later.
• Dates for Bail Review, Felony Disposition Conference and Preliminary Hearing will be set.

• The Bail Review is likely to be held approximately 5 days after arraignment
• Court will listen to arguments regarding bail
• Court must assume charges are true
• Court must consider whether the defendant is a flight risk (i.e., how many times has the defendant failed to appear in the past, does s/he have a stable job, residence and ties to the community)
• Court must consider whether the defendant is a danger to the community (i.e., does the defendant have a criminal history, did the defendant commit a crime of violence, is the defendant likely to reoffend while out on bail)

• The FDC (aka Readiness Conference) is likely to be calendared for seven days after arraignment.
• It is the first opportunity to settle matter
• At the FDC, the defendant may plead guilty or confirm the preliminary hearing
• If defendant pleads guilty, sentencing hearing will be approximately 1 month later
• If defendant confirms the preliminary hearing, it will be approximately 2 days later

• Prosecution presents a summary of evidence
• Defense normally does not present evidence
• If judge believes that defendant committed crime, the matter will be arraigned again

• Dates are set for Readiness Conference and Trial
• Readiness Conference is approximately five weeks away
• Trial is set approximately 50 days away

• The Readiness is similar to the FDC
• It is an opportunity to settle case before trial
• Defendant may plead guilty or confirm trial
• If defendant pleads guilty, sentencing will be approximately 1 month later
• If trial is confirmed, it will begin approximately two weeks later

• Defense and prosecution presents their case
• If client is convicted, sentencing will be approximately 1 month later

• At the sentencing hearing, the probation department will make a sentence recommendation.
• Prosecution will argue what it believes is proper sentence
• Prosecution may present comments from victim and other concerned citizens
• Defense will argue what it believes is proper sentence
• Defense may present psychological evaluation and comments from family members and other concerned individuals

Arraignment

• At arraignment, a defendant can enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.
• If the defendant enters a plea of not guilty, the matter will be set for Readiness Conference.

• If the defendant is represented by private counsel, s/he need not appear for arraignment; defense counsel may appear on behalf of the defendant.
• If the defendant appears at arraignment and is represented by the Public Defender, s/he should set aside four hours for the Court appearance.

Readiness

• Before the Readiness Conference, defense counsel will have received the discovery and negotiated with a Deputy City Attorney.  Again, if represented by private counsel, the defendant need not appear.
• If the defendant enters a guilty plea, s/he may choose to be sentenced immediately or return to Court in the future.
• At Readiness the defendant will accept the City Attorney's offer, continue for further negotiations or motions or set a trial.

Trial

• The defense and prosecution will present their cases.
• If the defendant is convicted, s/he may choose to be sentenced immediately or return to Court in the future.