Answer: The first court appearance is called the arraignment. That means that the criminal defendant is advised of his charges. If the matter is a misdemeanor, the defendant will be given an opportunity to plead not guilty, guilty or no contest. If you plead guilty or no contest, your case is over and you are sentenced that day. The court does not accept a guilty or no contest plea when you don’t have an attorney without advising you completely of your constitutional rights. That means if you plead guilty or no contest, and then decide to hire an attorney to fight the case, it is usually difficult to do so because the court has advised you of the rights you are waiving (giving up).

If the matter is a felony, the court will not accept a guilty or no contest plea from a criminal defendant who does not have an attorney. You will be asked to hire an attorney and come back with that attorney. If you do not have money for an attorney, the court will refer you to the Public Defender and order you to keep the appointment anc then come back.

In many cases, not having an attorney at the time of the first court appearance is simply an inconvenience since it means you have to come back on a different day with your attorney.

There are some exceptions. 1) The court can adjust bail at the time of the arraignment. This usually happens if the defendant is in custody. It can happen when the defendant is out of jail also. For example, if you are arrested for a DUI, and the police record check does not pick up some out-of-county prior DUIs, you might get released without having to pay bail (own recognizance). By the time the case is in court, the DA will have run a full record of your prior convictions. If you go to court out of custody as a first DUI offender, but you really have one or two DUI prior offenses, the judge at arraignment will likely raise your bail on the spot. That means you will go back into custody until you can post the higher bail.

The second common exception is in the domestic violence setting. When someone is arrested for misdemeanor or felony domestic violence, the alleged victim is asked if he/she wants a restraining order. They may not want a restraining order. Or the restraining order period may be over by the time the defendant has his first court date. In all domestic violence matters in California, the court WILL issue some sort of protective order. If the defendant goes to court alone, without the alleged victim, the court will likely order a no contact order. That means you cannot go home or even talk to your spouse.

If you have an attorney present, you are prepared for problems such as the two I have discussed. You can have bail money ready if you know the judge will raise the bail in a situation like the prior uncharged DUIs. If the judge will consider treatment alternatives, you can be in a program to avoid higher bail, depending on the judge and how many prior DUIs are on your record. In the domestic setting, if the alleged victim does not want charges to go forward, that person can inform the court that he or she does not want a no-contact order. Some judges simply then issue simpler “peaceful contact orders.” Other judges will inform the alleged victim that if he/she takes an educational program, the case can be placed back on calendar after the class has been completed. This limits the time out of the house for the defendant. Often this is very important to both members of the couple due to babysitting problems and extra money required to maintain 2 separate households for the same couple.

You should always check with an attorney if you are considering just making that first court appearance alone. You may find that it will be costlier than hiring the attorney before your first court date!

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