At arraignment, the court must inform the defendant of the charges against him. In some states, the judge must read the criminal complaint, indictment, information, or another charging document to the defendant unless the defendant waives the reading. The defendant also is entitled to receive a copy of the charging document. Once the court has advised the defendant of the charges against him, the judge will ask how he pleads to those charges.
The defendant can plead not guilty, guilty, or no contest. In some states, an arraignment includes setting conditions of release, if necessary. In deciding whether to release the defendant pending completion of the case, courts primarily consider:. Criminal defendants usually have the option to waive arraignment, especially if a defendant has an attorney. Defense counsel can facilitate this process by communicating with the prosecutor and the court and submitting a waiver of arraignment in writing.
In some cases, the attorneys work out an agreement as to the conditions of release and submit it to the court with documents waiving arraignment. In other cases, the court allows the defendant to waive arraignment and schedules a separate hearing on conditions of release.
If you are arrested or receive a notice of arraignment, contact a criminal defense attorney immediately. A knowledgeable attorney can give you information about the arraignment process in your state and discuss your options with you. Having counsel represent you at arraignment can reduce the stress of the arraignment process for you and ultimately might make a difference in what conditions of release the court imposes.
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Lawyer Directory. For all other charges that are not on this list, you MAY waive your arraignment. In other words, the rule applies to misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors, not felonies. Typical charges where we routinely waive the arraignment are — theft, shoplifting, assault, malicious mischief, BUI, reckless driving, trespassing, hit and run, minor in possession, driving while license suspended and fish and wildlife violations.
If you have an arraignment in the near future, you must contact a private attorney and tell them that you would like to waive your arraignment. A defendant need not be present for the arraignment if: 1 the defendant has been charged by indictment. Due to the exceptional circumstances presented by the Covid pandemic, the U. Magistrate Judges for this District will accept a waiver of appearance for arraignments on indictments, as opposed to the current practice of only on superseding indictments.
Click here for the waiver form which Defendant and counsel for Defendant should execute if, after discussion between them, Defendant decides to enter a not guilty plea to the indictment and waive his or her appearance in court for the arraignment.
That provision permits the court to conduct arraignments through video teleconferencing, if the defendant waives the right to be arraigned in court. Although the practice is now used in state courts and in some federal courts, Rules 10 and 43 have generally prevented federal courts from using that method for arraignments in criminal cases.
United States, supra Rules 10 and 43 mandate physical presence of defendant at arraignment and that arraignment take place in open court. A similar amendment was proposed by the Committee in and published for public comment. The amendment was later withdrawn from consideration in order to consider the results of several planned pilot programs. Upon further consideration, the Committee believed that the benefits of using video teleconferencing outweighed the costs of doing so.
This amendment also parallels an amendment in Rule 5 f that would permit initial appearances to be conducted by video teleconferencing. In amending Rules 5, 10, and 43 which generally requires the defendant's presence at all proceedings , the Committee carefully considered the argument that permitting a defendant to appear by video teleconferencing might be considered an erosion of an important element of the judicial process.
Much can be lost when video teleconferencing occurs. First, the setting itself may not promote the public's confidence in the integrity and solemnity of a federal criminal proceeding; that is the view of some who have witnessed the use of such proceedings in some state jurisdictions.
While it is difficult to quantify the intangible benefits and impact of requiring a defendant to be brought before a federal judicial officer in a federal courtroom, the Committee realizes that something is lost when a defendant is not required to make a personal appearance.
A related consideration is that the defendant may be located in a room that bears no resemblance whatsoever to a judicial forum and the equipment may be inadequate for high-quality transmissions. Second, using video teleconferencing can interfere with counsel's ability to meet personally with his or her client at what, at least in that jurisdiction, might be an important appearance before a magistrate judge.
Third, the defendant may miss an opportunity to meet with family or friends, and others who might be able to assist the defendant, especially in any attempts to obtain bail. Finally, the magistrate judge may miss an opportunity to accurately assess the physical, emotional, and mental condition of a defendant—a factor that may weigh on pretrial decisions, such as release from detention. On the other hand, the Committee considered that in some jurisdictions, the courts face a high volume of criminal proceedings.
The Committee was also persuaded to adopt the amendment because in some jurisdictions delays may occur in travel time from one location to another—in some cases requiring either the magistrate judge or the participants to travel long distances.
In those instances, it is not unusual for a defense counsel to recognize the benefit of conducting a video teleconferenced proceeding, which will eliminate lengthy and sometimes expensive travel or permit the arraignment to be conducted much sooner.
Finally, the Committee was aware that in some jurisdictions, courtrooms now contain high quality technology for conducting such procedures, and that some courts are already using video teleconferencing—with the consent of the parties.
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