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Criminal
Procedure
A
criminal case usually begins with an incident that attracts the
attention of the police. The police investigate the incident. Often,
they talk to witnesses and look for clues from which they might piece
together what happened. Once the police believe they know what
happened, they then decide what crimes they think were committed. They
also decide who it is that they think committed those crimes. Armed
with their conclusions about what happened and who did it, the police
move on to the next step in a criminal case: the arrest.
Arrest
The arrest is pretty straightforward. Typically, the police officer
handcuffs and searches the person being arrested, puts him in a police
car, drives him to the jail, and delivers him over to the sheriff’s
deputies. The deputies then put him in a holding area, called
“admissions,” where he is booked in, fingerprinted, photographed, and
stripped of his property. He is kept there, usually for up to 2 or 3
days, in a not-terribly-comfortable holding tank, eating
not-terribly-tasty food, and making do without the benefit of a shower
or clean clothes. He gets to leave there when he either makes bail or
is moved to a cell block, sometimes called a “pod,” where he is housed
with the long-term inmates, called “population.”
First Appearance
In many cases, the first court appearance happens during this time
while the arrested person, called the “defendant,” is being held in
admissions. This appropriately-titled “First Appearance” hearing,
often takes place in a courtroom at the jail within a day or two after
the defendant is booked in. At the First Appearance, those defendants
who haven’t yet made bail are brought before a magistrate judge. The
magistrate gives information to each defendant about the crimes with
which she is charged and the rights she has in defending against those
charges. The magistrate also sets the date and time for the
defendant’s next court appearance.
Preliminary / Commitment Hearing
That next court appearance is called the “Preliminary” or “Commitment”
hearing. It usually happens within a couple of weeks or so after the
First Appearance, and, like the First Appearance, it is often held in
a courtroom at the jail. At the Preliminary Hearing, the State’s
attorney, called the “prosecutor,” presents evidence to a magistrate.
Usually, that evidence consists of the testimony of one of the
investigating police officers. The prosecutor asks the officer
questions, and the officer answers them; thereafter, the defendant’s
attorney questions the officer and, in some cases, calls defense
witnesses to the stand to give more evidence. After hearing the
evidence, the magistrate decides whether there is probable cause to
believe that (1) a crime was committed and that (2) the defendant is
the person who committed that crime. If the magistrate finds that
there is not probable cause, he will dismiss. However, if he finds
that there is probable cause, he will issue an order binding the case
over – to the State Court if the case involves only misdemeanors, or,
if it involves at least one felony, to the Superior Court.
Bail / Bind-Over
The most important effect of the bind-over order is that it allows the
State to keep the defendant locked-up until the case is disposed of,
whether by plea, trial, dismissal, or otherwise. The defendant’s hope
of avoiding such indefinite pre-trial confinement is bail. Bail is
basically collateral, that is, a stake that a person offers up as a
guarantee that the defendant will go to court when she is supposed to.
The person who offers that stake is called the “bondsman,” and he
could be a professional bail bondsman who puts up the defendant’s bail
for a fee via a so-called “surety bond,” or he could simply be
someone who knows the defendant and who is, himself, willing and able
to post the bail. He might post it with cash equal to the amount of
the bail, called a “cash bond,” or he might post it with the equity in
real estate that is here in Georgia, called a “property bond.” Either
way, so long as the defendant goes to court when he is supposed to,
nothing will happen to the stake – it will be returned to the
bondsman.
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