For most people that come into the system, it is their first time. They have no idea what is happening. The first thing you want to do is get an attorney that can help you understand that. If your attorney doesn’t explain all that to you, that is your first red flag. You want to be in a situation where the attorney helps you understand, what are the timelines going forward because one of the hardest things for a person accused is to wait.
Once you’ve been arrested or once you’ve been accused, the police agency has the ability to take their file to the district attorney’s office and file that case. Even though you’ve been arrested, that doesn’t always happen. There are times where you have three to five, six, seven months before it ever goes to the district attorney’s office. Once it’s at the DA’s office, then a prosecutor reviews the case, makes sure that all the elements of the offense are met, and can you prove at least some of these elements, cursory glance the case. They approve or disapprove it.
There are times in certain very serious cases where the DA will talk to a defense attorney on a case. If you hire a lawyer early enough, and the lawyer gets enough information, that attorney can go to the district attorney’s office and present an argument and present information so that the DA can decide not to prosecute a case. If you get a lawyer in early enough and get your side of the story explained to the DA, that lawyer can make a presentation to the DA and sometimes even to the grand jury, so the grand jury chooses not to charge your client with a crime. You want to get your lawyer early and as soon as possible, the kind of attorney that understand all of that.
Then once you have got a case that is set and you are looking at going to court, so the case has been accepted by the district attorney’s office, and they’ve decided we at least have enough to make a person have to appear in court and answer for these charges. Then you are going to have court dates. Your first court date almost always is going to be your lawyer appearing before the court, you appearing before the court, and the prosecutor appearing before the court, and just saying, hey, we are all here.
What that typically looks like in most jurisdictions, more specifically here as a criminal defense attorney in Frisco, Texas whether you are going to the McKinney office or you’re going to Denton DA’s Office, either one of those offices what happens is you go to court, and then you stand in line. The lawyer stands and waits for the prosecutor to talk to them because there are 20 to 50 lawyers that come in that morning for the docket. The clients sit in the gallery and wait and twiddle their thumbs.
You could go to court and do nothing but sit and watch lawyers talk and not hear anything they say or wonder what just the heck happened. When you hire a lawyer, you want to hire a lawyer that is going to communicate with you, so you don’t feel like that is a waste of your time. That lawyer checks back in with you, helps you understand it and know what happened.
Speak to a Criminal Defense Lawyer
If you have been accused of a crime, you should not delay in reaching out to a local criminal defense attorney. Philip D. Ray is an experienced criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area who will provide you with an aggressive defense. Call The Law Offices of Philip D. Ray at (469) 588-6770 for a consultation.