Many people have seen the Hollywood version of how arrests and court proceedings take place, but the whole system is much more complicated.
The whole process can be broken down in about 12 steps from the arrest to parole or expungement.
“A criminal arrest can be complicated,” said Inessa Chavez, vice president of All American Bail Bonds in Santa Clarita. “Many times, they go to trial.”
The process begins with an arrest by a law enforcement official. The makes an arrest based on a probable cause that someone has committed a criminal offense.
“At our All American Bail Bonds in Santa Clarita location, the arresting agency is the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station under the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” Chavez said.
Criminal offense can be less serious such as infraction or misdemeanor or a felony.
The arrest and the evidence is then presented to the local district attorney’s office. A deputy district attorney will then decide if they want to file a complaint.
If the DDA decides to file a complaint, the case will go into the arraignment phase. This is where the suspect will be advised of their rights and have their bail set.
Bail bonds agencies, like All American Bail Bonds, come in at this point. The suspect, many times, can be released on bail until their preliminary hearing date.
A preliminary hearing is where the evidence against the suspect will be presented to a judge. If the judge feels that there is a probable cause to support the charges, the defendant will then be able to enter a plea.
the preliminary hearing is followed by a pretrial, trial, sentencing and sometimes, there are collateral offenses.
The defendant may file an appeal if they feel the court made an error.
Many times, the defendant will be able to serve some time and then be released on parole or even be expunged or have the crime be removed from their record.
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If loved one in custody and they wish to talk to an All American Bail Bonds representative call:
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