What is the difference between preliminary hearing and arraignment?
What is the difference between preliminary hearing and arraignment?
Preliminary hearings and arraignments both occur before your trial, but have different purposes. The preliminary hearing is where the judge decides if there is enough evidence mounted against you for you to stand trial. The arraignment is where you can file your plea of guilty, not guilty, or no contest.
What benefit does the plea bargain have for the prosecutor?
Prosecutors benefit from plea bargains because the deals allow them to improve their conviction rates. Some prosecutors also use plea bargains as a way to encourage defendants to testify against codefendants or other accused criminals.
What are the ultimate aims of prosecutors who engage in overcharging defendants?
Many prosecutors engage in “overcharging” – charging the defendant with the offense that carries the greatest penalty, even when she knows she may not be able to prove it at trial. The purpose of this practice is to goad the defendant into pleading guilty to a lesser offense.
Can you get sentenced at a plea hearing?
Since a guilty plea means a defendant accepts committing the offence, it is not possible at the sentencing hearing for a defendant to seek to distance himself from the offence by, for example, saying “I pleaded guilty but I didn’t really do it” or “I’m not guilty and only pleaded guilty because I didn’t want the …
How long can someone be remanded in custody?
The police can hold you for up to 24 hours before they have to charge you with a crime or release you. They can apply to hold you for up to 36 or 96 hours if you’re suspected of a serious crime, eg murder. You can be held without charge for up to 14 days If you’re arrested under the Terrorism Act.
What does it mean when your remanded?
If the court decides to put you on remand it means you will go to prison until your hearing at a magistrates’ court. You will probably be put on remand if: you have been charged with a serious crime, for example armed robbery. you have been convicted of a serious crime in the past.
What does it mean if a case is reversed and remanded?
Reverse and Remand Some cases will result in a reversal and remand. This means that the Court of Appeals found an error and the case is remanded, or sent back, to the same trial judge to re-decide the case. Many times issues can only result in a remand back to the same trial judge.
