Criminal Defense FAQs

What happens when you’re arrested?

You will be issued an appearance ticket or taken into police custody 

In essence what happens is you are usually either given an appearance ticket by the police officer or taken into custody by the police officer.  Depending on which of those two things happen, dictates when you’ll be able to go free the same day.  It depends on if you’re on your own in court the next time.  The other event that could occur is that you will have to be brought to the court by the precinct.

A domestic violence charge will typically result in an arrest

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Police precincts will not give you an appearance ticket for certain charges, instead they must issue an arrest. If there’s any major bounty or violent felony charge, many precincts will now take individuals into custody with domestic violence cases.

The first court date is usually an arraignment. What that means, for the most part, is that you’ve now appeared for court. Then the court will decide whether or not to set bail and what amount to set.  

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The judge will decide whether or not to impose bail

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If you appear to court on your own it is less likely that a judge is going to impose some form of bail on you, but he still could.