As a New York City criminal defense lawyer, one of the most common phone calls our attorneys get is a call from a family member of someone who was arrested by the New York City Police Department.
The arrest procedure in New York is arduous. Typically, once a person is arrested, it is very difficult for family members to get information about what is happening. Typically, that is because the person moves through various parts of the system.
The New York City arraignment process typically takes between 12 and 20 hours depending on many factors. The arrestee is first processed at the local precinct which takes several hours. Their information is faxed to Albany and then once the raps are run, the person is transferred to central booking. During this time, the District Attorney prepares the paperwork while the arrested person sits in Central Booking, until the case become Court ready.
Our New York City criminal defense lawyers are able to monitor the status of a new arrest directly with the arraignment parts of the New York City criminal courts by telephone. When the case is Court ready, we go to the arraignment and get our clients out as soon as possible. The New York City criminal Courts in the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan all have arraignments until 1:00 a.m., and when our New York City criminal defense lawyers are retained we will go to the arraignment, no matter how late it is.
