This is attorney Mark Caldwell, and I would like to discuss with you what your options are when you’re charged with a felony. If you are arrested for a felony, the judge will set a bond amount typically within a day or two of the arrest. The bond can be classified into three different bonding types. So let’s say the judge puts a $5,000 bond on you. 

The judge gives you a personal recognizance bond, also known as a PR bond, then you don’t have to post any money. However, if you fail to appear for court, then you will have to owe the court $5,000. The other type of bond is a cash or surety bond. So if it’s $5,000 and you would have to give the court $5,000 or you would have to hire a bail bondsman to post the $5,000 and then you would pay the bail bondsman 10% of that, which would be $500 and put up collateral for $5,000. 

The third type of bond would be like a 10% cash bond. So if it’s a $5,000 bond, then the bond that you would owe the court would be $500. After the bond, the next court date would be an arraignment. At the arraignment is typically when the judge will put bond conditions on you. Now the bond conditions are usually no drugs or alcohol. You can’t leave the state without permission. Sometimes they’ll put court services on you. 

If they put court services on you, it’s a more aggressive type of bond where you’re going to be meeting usually weekly with somebody at the court, like a probation department for testing. The other bond condition could be an alcohol or GPS tether or a Soberlink device. The Soberlink device is a Bluetooth device that connects to your phone. You blow into that three times a day. After the arraignment, the next court date will be a probable cause conference. 

The probable cause conference is an opportunity for me to speak with the prosecutor to try to negotiate a plea deal, either a plea to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor and keep it in district court because the arraignment and the probable cause conference are in district court. And if we keep it in district court, then you would be sentenced with a district court judge. The next court date after the arraignment would be the probable cause conference. And then after the probable cause conference would be a preliminary exam. 

The other kind of offers that you would get would be offers that would move it to circuit court, but it would preserve that offer when you did move to circuit court. Otherwise, we would run the preliminary exam, which would be typically a week after the probable cause conference. And then at the preliminary exam, all the prosecutor has to prove is more probable than not that you committed the crime.

 After the probable cause conference and after the preliminary exam, the court moves to a status conference into circuit court. At the status conference, either a plea is entered into or the case is set for jury trial. If the plea is entered into, then it will be set for a sentencing date, typically about two months after the settlement conference. And in between the settlement conference and the sentencing date, you’ll have to do a pre-sentence investigation report, also known as a PSI. You’ll meet with probation. It typically takes about an hour. They get to know you and then they draft a report for the judge for them to review prior to sentencing.

This is attorney Mark Caldwell, and I’m going to discuss with you your options if you’re charged with a misdemeanor. When you’re charged with a misdemeanor, your first court date is going to be an arraignment. At an arraignment, you typically would plead not guilty. 

However, if the prosecutor messed up and charged you with an incorrect charge, then sometimes we’ll go in and plead guilty at the arraignment before they amend the charges to what the charges should be. Now, a lot of courts let you waive the arraignment. There are some cases that are not waivable in most courts, and that would be OWI seconds or cases where there’s a victim involved, such as domestic violence. Typically, those are not waivable. 

If the arraignment is waived, then it gets set for a pretrial conference or settlement conference. However, if it’s not waivable and we do the arraignment, typically at that arraignment, the judge will set bond conditions on you. The bond conditions are typically no drugs or alcohol. You can’t leave the state without permission. You can’t commit any new criminal offenses, and they may require you to do court services or put an alcohol tether or Soberlink device on you. 

If the arraignment is waived, they will typically email me or you the bond conditions and then either you or myself will sign those bond conditions and email them back to the court. After the arraignment is the pretrial conference or settlement conference, that is an opportunity for me to speak with the prosecutor to try to get your case resolved without going to trial. If we’re unable to come to a resolution at the pretrial or settlement conference, then the court would be set for a jury trial. 

However, if we do come to a resolution at the settlement conference, then typically a plea would be entered at the settlement conference and then the next court date would be a sentencing date. Prior to the sentencing date, you would meet with probation and do a pre-sentence investigation report, also known as a PSI. This will end in a PSI. If you have any questions, you can call me, text me, or email me.