The sixth amendment of the United States Constitution has a clause that states “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy…trial.” This a fairly well known clause of the constitution and because of that a lot of people are confused when they actually get in the judicial system and see how slowly things move. There is no hard line definition for what a speedy trial means but for a typical criminal case the defendant is not likely to resolve the case until at least 6 months after the alleged offense occurred.
What to Expect when Criminally Charged
If you have been cited for committing a crime then there is a general timeline that you case is likely to follow. If your case is a class B misdemeanor or lower you will be in justice court and if its a class A misdemeanor or higher it will be in district court. If you hire an attorney at the justice court level you can get the arraignment canceled and a PTC date set which is normally about a month out from the date the arraignment is canceled. So likely at least two months after the original date. If you are in district court then the arraignment cannot be waived and you will have to wait about a month for that court date, then possibly schedule a preliminary hearing and then from there a pretrial conference. So in either court you could be looking at 2-4 months after the original citation date for a pretrial conference and that’s only the end of the process if you plan on taking a plea deal. Long story short be prepared to do a lot of waiting in your case.
Ogden Criminal Defense Attorney | Helping Speed up your Case
If you are being charged with a criminal violation then give Ogden Criminal Defense Lawyer a call, we strive to help our clients with all of their concerns in their criminal case including doing what we can to speed up the process. In a lot of scenarios we are at the mercy of the court but in others we can get pointless hearings canceled or file certain paperwork by affidavit so you don’t have to be at court. Call or email us today to find out how we could help you in your specific case.
