Do I have to attend all these Court dates?
The hiring of a criminal defense attorney can certainly help you avoid attending all these court dates. The first court date that you will probably have after charges have been filed is the Arraignment. At the Arraignment, the Judge will be formally reading the criminal charges being prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office. If the formal charges have not yet been filed, the Judge may reset the arraignment. The Judge will also inquire as the status of the accused attorney. The judge will ask if you have hired an attorney. Our firm will often file a waiver of appearance on your behalf after we have been retained. This will excuse you from being present at the required court date. After the Arraignment, you will have several status hearings. These status hearings are referred to as a Pretrial, Case Management, Docket Sounding, Trial Management hearing, and Sentencing reviews. Depending on the Judge and the County of the case, we may be able to waive and excuse your appearance from these status hearings. We always try to assist our clients and provide them the opportunity to avoid the stress of the courthouse.