An arraignment is one of the first important hearings in a criminal case. Do you need bail or a bail reduction? Do you want to dismiss your case? Do you want to see your Defense Attorney in action? Well, arraignments must be taken seriously.
At arraignments, a judge wants to know the reason for the stop.
A bad stop could lead to a dismissal. And, that is where Bryan Fagan's Attorneys begin.
You need a Defense Attorney to investigate the police stop. In other words, what is the probable cause or reason to believe a crime was even committed. Your Defense Attorney must be ready to show how the police did not have reason to believe a crime was committed. A judge will ask the State Prosecutor to list the articulable facts by reading from a police report, a probable cause statement or with the arresting officer giving a live testimony in court. The judge will weigh if the reason for the stop, which leads to an ultimate arrest, was legal.
For example, if a police report indicates the defendant's blood alcohol level was over the legal limit, then the judge wants to know how a police officer would know that from inside his or her police vehicle. If the defendant was driving correctly or if there was no mention of poor driving, how did the officer know the defendant's blood alcohol was over the limit? It is illegal for a police officer to randomly stop people or to profile a person and stop them. So, at arraignments a judge will need the police report, a probable cause statement or the officer to articulate the reason for pulling over the defendant.
Your Defense Attorney must see the gap or hole in the timeline of events and question it as a bad stop.
Stay tuned to bryanfagan.com. There is more to come on what to expect at arraignments and how to take advantage of them.
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