THE PROSECUTOR

Once you are arrested by the police, the information will be provided to the appropriate prosecutor's office. The prosecutor, who is the lawyer representing the State in the potential case against you, will then review the information before making an independent decision as to what charges should be filed.

This decision is of ccourse an important one, and can vary from prosecutor to prosecutor, and defendant to defendant. Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page and read Who Does the DA Charge? for more information on this decision and how it is made.

If you have been arrested for a felony, a prosecutor may enlist the services of a grand jury to review the available information in order to determine what crimes you should actually be charged with.

If you are placed in custody, you have the right to promptly appear in court to hear the charges filed against you and enter a plea. This usually means that the prosecutor must decide within seventy-two hours which charges, if any, will be filed. A prosecutor is not bound by the initial charge held against you, but may later change the crimes with which you will be charged once more evidence is obtained.

The required time in which a prosecutor must make a charge decision varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. While many state laws require the decision to be made within seventy-two hours, other states, such as California, require that the decision be made within forty-eight hours after you are taken into custody.

For more information about Bradley Johnson Attorneys, or to contact us about your case, click here.