YOU'VE BEEN ARRESTED:

Now What?

by

Attorney Alison C. Petri

 

If you've been arrested, depending on the offense, police officers may take you to the Manitowoc County Jail.  If you're charged with Operating while Intoxicated (drunk driving), you will be held for twelve hours, or until jail staff believes your alcohol level is below Wisconsin's legal limit of .08 BAC.  If you're charged with a misdemeanor, you or someone on your behalf will be permitted to post cash bail to obtain your release.  However, if you're charged with a felony, you will remain in jail until the courts are open and a bail hearing can be held.  Accordingly, if you're arrested on a Friday night, you will be held until Monday, or even longer if Monday happens to be a legal holiday.

 

If you remain in jail until a bail hearing is held, you will appear via video conferencing before a Manitowoc County Circuit Court Commissioner.  You and your attorney, if you have one, will be in a video room in the jail, while the Court Commissioner and District Attorney will be on camera in the Courthouse.  The Commissioner will determine what type of bail is appropriate, considering the initially known facts surrounding your case.  Bail may be set as a cash amount or through what is known as a personal recognizance bond.  A PR bond involves your signing a promise to pay a certain amount of money if you fail to appear at later court appearances or violate any other bond condition.  If you are able to furnish the bail, you will be released from the Manitowoc County Jail. Wisconsin, unlike certain other states, does not allow posting of a percentage of cash bail in order to be released.  If the Court Commissioner sets bail at, for example, $2,000 dollars, then you or someone on your behalf must post the full $2,000.

 

After your bail hearing, all your remaining appearances will be before a Manitowoc Circuit Court Judge, rather than a Court Commissioner.  Your first appearance is called an 'Initial Appearance.'  If you are charged with a misdemeanor, at your Initial Appearance you will enter a plea of guilty, not guilty, or no contest.  If you plead guilty or no contest, you will be sentenced.  If you plead not guilty, your case will be scheduled for a settlement conference with the District Attorney's Office.  If charged with a felony, at your initial appearance you must either request or waive a preliminary hearing.  At a preliminary hearing, through live witnesses, the District Attorney must convince the Judge there is sufficient evidence that you probably committed a felony.  If you waive your preliminary hearing or the Judge decides there is probable cause that you committed a felony, you will be 'bound over' for further court proceedings.  The next step is an arraignment.  At your arraignment you will enter a plea, similar to the Initial Appearance for a misdemeanor.  If you plead not guilty, your case will be set for a settlement conference with the District Attorney.

 

At the settlement conference, the District Attorney will make some sort of offer to you or your attorney to resolve your case.  This is known as plea bargaining.  Plea bargaining can take many forms.  The DA may offer to recommend a certain sentence to the Judge if you agree to plead guilty or no contest to one or all of the charges pending against you.  A charge may be amended to something with a lesser penalty  The District Attorney's plea offer may involve fines, probation, jail time, community service, or a combination.  After bargaining with the DA, you will have to decide whether to accept what the DA is offering.  Plea agreements can take many forms.  For example, the DA may agree to recommend the judge sentence you to no more than 30 days jail, with the defense free to argue for less or no jail.  Any plea agreement you may enter into with the DA's office is not binding on the judge.  The judge can go along with the agreement or modify it as the judge sees fit.  The plea agreement is only binding on the DA and you or your attorney.  In other words, if the plea agreement requires the DA recommend the judge sentence you to 30 days jail, the DA must follow the agreement and recommend no more than 30 days, although the judge can sentence you to more or less.

 

 

If you and the DA reach a plea agreement, your case will be set for a plea hearing.  At that hearing you will enter a plea of guilty or no contest and be found guilty.  Then, depending on what the plea agreement calls for, you and the DA will argue your case to the judge, requesting whatever penalties were agreed upon in the plea bargain.  Either side can produce limited evidence to support their position.

 

If you do not reach a plea agreement with the DA's office at the settlement conference, your case will be set for trial.  At trial, if all twelve jurors believe, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you committed the crime(s), you will be convicted.  If any of the twelve jurors does not believe beyond a reasonable doubt you committed the crime, it will be a 'hung jury', and you can be tried again.  If all twelve jurors don't believe you committed the crime, you will be 'acquitted', meaning you cannot be tried again.

 

Depending on the specific facts of your case, there may be other hearings before the trial.  For example, if a motion to suppress evidence is filed, the judge will decide at a separate hearing if the evidence will be admitted at trial.   

 

The criminal process can be overwhelming and confusing.  Whether you hire an attorney to represent you is a personal decision, with costs involved.  You are constitutionally entitled to be represented by an attorney.  If you cannot afford an attorney and meet certain income and asset limits, the Manitowoc Public Defender's Office will represent you.