Arrest, Bail, Bond And Arraignment
ARREST, BAIL, BOND AND ARRAIGNMENT IN NEW YORK
Being arrested is a stressful event for both the guilty and the innocent. Usually there is no explanation of what has occurred and often people sit in a police station jail cell for what seems like an eternity not knowing when they get out. Likewise, family members suddenly learn that a loved one has been arrested and they don’t know what has happened and when the person will get out.
ARREST AND ARRAIGNMENT IN NEW YORK CITY
In New York City, the arrest to arraignment process is lengthy. The arraignment parts in the New York City Criminal Courts in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn run around the clock. Typically, the arraignment process can take up to twenty hours. Our lawyers when retained to do a surrender or for someone who was just arrested immediately contact the precinct and detectives, file a notice of appearance with the criminal clerk and monitor the case every couple of hours until the case is “Court Ready”, which means all of the back ground checks have been done and the Court is ready for arraignment.
ARREST AND ARRAIGNMENT IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY
In Westchester, the process is different because the Courts only operate during their usual business hours. Sometimes a Judge will come in on a weekend to do an arraignment. Typically, when someone is arrested in Westchester, they will be arraigned the next day, unless they are arrested in the morning.
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU
Our White Plains criminal defense lawyers are often asked “I was just called by a Detective who wants me to come in, What Should I do?”. The answer is always hire an attorney immediately. Our Westchester and New York City criminal defense lawyer will contact the detective or police station on your behalf. Dealing with the police directly can be dangerous because often they think they know you committed a crime, but don’t have hard proof, evidence or necessary corroboration. The just come in and talk phone call is often a trap to interrogate you without having to read you your rights since you were not technically arrested yet. So the police will often question you, badger you, promise you no charges will be brought if you just tell them what they want to hear or threaten you will go to jail if you do not adopt the story they feed you. This process has lead to many confessions of innocent, but scared or unintelligent people. Our New York City and White Plains criminal defense lawyers will prevent any questioning and if the police are going to arrest you anyway, we can arrange a surrender early in the morning, so you can get arraigned and hopefully released the same day.
THE ARRAIGNMENT
After an arrest the first appearance in Court is called an arraignment. Typically on misdemeanor cases a plea of not guilty is entered and on felony cases a demand for a felony hearing is made. Also the issue of bail is addressed. Bail allows a defendant in a criminal case to remain free while the case is pending. If bail is denied or the individual is remanded they must remain in jail while the case is pending. Our New York City and Westchester criminal defense lawyers have successfully made bail and ROR (release on own recognizance) applications before the Westchester Courts of the White Plains City Court, the Westchester County Court in White Plains, the local criminal courts of Yonkers, Mamaroneck, Rye, Scarsdale, New Rochelle, Mount Kisco, Mount Vernon, Elmsford, Greenburgh, Port Chester, Ossining, Bronxville, Mt. Kisco, Mt. Pleasant, Harsdale, Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Irvington and Armonk. Our New York City criminal defense lawyers have also successfully obtained bail and release on their own recognizance for clients charged in the Criminal Courts of the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Our criminal defense attorneys quickly get up to speed on cases so that we can make an effective bail application. A number of factors which help get a reduced bail and ROR are weaknesses in the case against the Defendant, family and employment history, ties to the community and any other factor that shows that the defendant is not a flight risk. Our criminal defense lawyers quickly speak with friends and family to learn as much about the individual as we can to make the most effective bail application we can. Appearing with a private or retained lawyer as opposed to a Court appointed lawyer is also another factor that the Courts tend to look favorably on.
BAIL AND BOND
In most criminal cases involving misdemeanors, our lawyers are able to get people with no criminal history released on their own recognizance. In cases where there is a criminal history we often get the bail down well below what the prosecutors ask for. Bail is typically money paid into the Court to secure the person’s attendance in Court. Serious felony bails tend to be high so, bond alternatives are frequently requested by our New York City and White Plains criminal defense lawyers. A bond alternative is when a bail bondsman posts a bond with the Court for the Defendants’ release and rather than post tens of thousands of dollars, the family can pay a premium, which is usually 10% of the bail and the bondsman will post the bail. Our attorneys in the White Plains office share space with a bail bondsman and we can usually reach a bondsman after business hours and on weekends as an additional service to our clients.
We have the experience and knowledge to get you or your loved one out of jail and retaining us early is always beneficial.
