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Orange County attorney article review: From the courtroom to determining bail, this article explains the arraignment process in New York's Criminal Courts.
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Arraignment in New York
Criminal Courts
by Susan Chana Lask
The "arraignment" process involves:
Being brought before a Judge in the courtroom
Receiving the "
criminal complaint" with the crimes charged and the factual
basis to each charge
The District Attorney requesting bail or releasing you on your own recognizance
(called "ROR")
Pleading guilty or not guilty
The process starts when the court officer brings you from the cell in the back
of the courtroom and into the courtroom before the Judge.
If you were unable to contact your family, friends or an attorney when you were
arrested then most likely the court will have a Legal Aid attorney appear for
you. Legal Aid attorneys are in the courtroom at all times to defend the poor,
and most times to appear for the unrepresentative.
Usually there will be about three attorneys from the District Attorney's office
in the courtroom. One of them will read the charges against you and request the
court to impose bail at a certain amount or no bail. If no bail is demanded by
the District Attorney then you will hear the word "ROR", which means "return on
your own recognizance".
Bail is determined according to the crime and your personal information. At
arraignment the District Attorney will have your personal information obtained
from their computer searches on you. They call this your " rap sheet". It will
include information about you, such as:
Any
Prior convictions
Any arrests at anytime
Any pleas to
prior arrests
Parole
Probation
If your rap sheet is clear of any crimes and this is your first arrest, chances
are good that there will be no bail set against you. But even if your rap sheet
is clear, if the crime you're charged with is serious (such as involving a large
amount of stolen money or violence), bail can be set against you. There are
different factors affecting the setting of bail against you, and all are
considered by the judge in a matter of minutes.
Injured people with lawyers receive 3.7 times more than injured people without lawyers.
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If the District Attorney requests bail, your attorney should argue that:
You're not a flight risk
You have family, friends and a job in the state or locally
The charges against you are improper in some way.
Your attorney may even get the whole case dismissed if the District Attorney's
criminal complaint
against you is not properly drafted or signed by a proper
party.
Getting The
Complaint Dismissed At Arraignment
The District Attorney drafts the
criminal complaint against you from information
received from the arresting officer and the victim of the crime. While you're
being processed through the Precinct and Central Booking, the arresting officer
will fax his paperwork and information regarding your arrest and charges to the
District Attorney's office. Someone in the District Attorney's office will then
call the victim and get more information so they can properly draft the
complaint.
The complaint needs to be signed under oath by the arresting officer or the
victim. If it is not signed by anyone when you appear at your arraignment then
it is not "corroborated" and must be dismissed. So check out who signed the
complaint: if it was a person other than the arresting officer or the victim
then the complaint should be dismissed.
Lastly, if the facts of the complaint do not establish each legal element of the
crime charged, or the complaint is poorly drafted then it should be dismissed
however, the court usually will give the District Attorney a few weeks to file a
properly drafted complaint.
Law Offices of Susan Chana Lask
853 Broadway, Suite 1516
New York, NY 10003
(212) 358-5762
©2004 Susan Chana Lask All Rights Reserved
Susan Chana Lask is a New York attorney with law offices in New York City. She
has over 20 years experience and practices in State, Federal and Appellate
Courts nationwide, handling civil,
criminal and commercial litigation and
appeals. She represents high profile cases and appears on all major television,
print and radio news media, earning the title "High-Powered" New York attorney.
She can be reached at www.appellate-brief.com.
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